Afterspice!
by Fatalyst
Summary: Her classmates are acting strange and her brother Len has vanished. Can Rin Kagamine cope with her new feelings? How will she deal with the dangling threads that shroud the love of her life? Can you handle a taste of Afterspice?
1. Deja Vu

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**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act I: The First Day~  
~Scene I~_

* * *

The classroom was dead silent. She shifted her eyes from the windows overlooking the track to the door that led out to the hall. The solace in the air was unsettling. Of course, for everyone else who sat in class 3-B this was a normal precursor to class, but today there was a different anxiety behind the façade for Rin Kagamine. She looked to an empty desk two rows behind her by the windows and sighed, looking down to the lit black and green display of her cell phone. There were no messages or missed calls. She fiddled with it and set it to silent, but left it in the little hammock of her skirt between her legs so that she could see it if it lit up.

The teacher, Mr. Shion, came in then, just as quietly as his students were sitting in his seat. The class health representative stood up in place of the class representative. "Ah," Mr. Shion noted the representative's absence, "Kagamine-kun is absent today?" He looked to Rin, as though to confirm this. She didn't shake or nod her head, but simply stared back at the teacher blankly, surprised by something about the question.

"Very well," he answered himself, clearing his throat to signal the class to proceed. The health rep took up where she had left off. They bowed, greeting their teacher, and then sat down. Starting off by jotting down Len Kagamine's absence from class that day, the teacher began counting the seats and referring to his chart. "Ah, Nomase-kun is also absent. I have an excuse from his parents… But where is Akita-san?"

Somehow he never memorized where his students sat, and only made a light hobby of knowing anything about them. Was he a klutz in that manner, she wondered? The professionalism of it made her doubt, but she knew that he had a different side to him. "Neru-san is on the student council," Rin explained. Mr. Shion blinked at her for a moment, and suddenly realized what that meant.

"Oh! Yes." he exclaimed quickly, erasing the mark he had made on her name. As he continued counting he mumbled, "Assembly… Assembly…" He stole a glance at Rin,

The class began, and dryly Rin took out her textbook and notepad. They began with a pop quiz. She dated and titled a blank sheet of notebook paper. While waiting for the teacher to finish listing the questions, Rin received a ball of paper from the left end of her row. Mr. Shion, oblivious to this, realized he had made a blunder in mixing up the questions and now had to erase nearly everything and start over again. Rin open the note carelessly and glanced at it.

_What happened to Len, today?_

She didn't have to look up to know who had thrown it at her. It was Haku Yowane, one of her classmates. She seemed to be looking out the windows as if searching for someone, but she also had an eye on Rin, who grimaced as a swirling sensation filled her stomach. She began to twirl her finger in midair beside her desk. As she went on about this, Haku suddenly began to pay more attention. She shot Rin a glare that seemed to demand something. Rin just shrugged and buried her face in her arms.

It was all a little too much right now…


	2. Dream

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**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act I: The First Day~  
~Scene II~_

* * *

"So tell me."

"I already did…"

"But you know something more, right?"

"No…"

Haku Yowane's eyebrows squeezed together slightly for a moment. She made a face of disgust and drifted to the back of the line. Rin exhaled a sigh of relief. To have been completely honest, she really didn't know where Len was or what he was doing. _Or who he was doing_, she thought bitterly. They walked through the large double doors and climbed the small rafters on one side of the large gymnasium. Mr. Shion stood at the top, detaining some students and letting them pass after others, separating the ones who would talk the most. It wasn't foolproof, but it helped to quiet down his class. When Rin came by he held her as well, saying nothing during the process.

But he didn't let go of her arm, like he did with the others. As Haku took her seat last, Rin felt Mr. Shion—no, at that moment it was Kaito—slip something into her hand. She knew what he wanted right away. Then he became Mr. Shion again, sitting in the row directly in front of her, where the teachers always sat. Neither person showed any acknowledgement of what had happened, except for a certain Akita Neru, who quietly clambered up the scratched wooden stairs. She seemed focused Mr. Shion, and then chuckled confidently as she rudely pushed past Rin to take her place with the other representatives, jolting her.

"Oh, _excuse me_. I'm so _sorry_." Neru placed a careless emphasis on her words, making it clear to her allies that he had struck the first blow of the day.

That was just how it was with Len's school floozies, Rin remarked internally. They were all polite to her on a political level, but underneath the surface Neru, Haku, and every other girl who was infatuated with her brother scorned Rin. There were other girls, too, who hated Rin for stealing the attention of the other boys. In that regard, Rin hated Len for being such a player. Her heart throbbed for a moment as the word "hate" materialized in her mind and linked itself to Len. She shook her head and undid that connection, feeling uneasy.

She couldn't take her mind off of what had happened the day before. Vulgar thoughts swirled about her. She stared at her shoes. His hands had been so callused, but gentle with her. She could remember vividly the hardness of his abdomen contrasting with the smoothness of his skin. A bead of his sweat rolled down her lip.

_She tried to free herself from his grip, but he was too strong for her. Was he too strong for her…? He wasn't holding her hands very tightly, and her legs were free to maneuver. She pushed her knees against his ribs, but he slid into position as if she had been inviting him which, thinking about it, she had. The real reason she wanted him to let go of her wrists was because she wanted to embrace him tightly in her arms. Her strength returned to her. She ripped free of his grasp—_

—and cried out. Daydreaming, she had fallen over and spilled out onto the stairs. Heads turned to hear, and the speaker paused for just a second. She rubbed her throbbing head and sat back down, trying to hide her pink cheeks. But she wasn't blushing because she was embarrassed. Absentmindedly she wiped away the drool hanging from the edge of her lips.


	3. Oil or Water

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**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act I: The First Day~  
~Scene III~_

* * *

"I don't know, I haven't heard from him since yesterday…"

"Really! That Kagamine-san! I can't believe the nerve he has."

"I wonder why he's not here today…"

"I don't understand what you see in him. Why don't you ask his sister?"

"I've never really spoken to her before. He doesn't really get other people involved."

"Well, that's her now, why don't you go ask her?"

"I don't want to. It's too soon. He might come back tomorrow, right?"

Rin cast a glance at two seniors talking loudly behind her through the reflection of a fire extinguisher case. One was Riza Sotone, a mild acquaintance of Rin's who had long hair and a snazzy pair of glasses. She didn't know the other girl, who had a strangely teal tinge to her absurdly long twin tails, which nearly touched the floor. Rin hadn't been listening to their conversation until the mention of her older brother. Now she was interested in what they had to say, but it seemed that they wanted to change the subject. It frustrated her, because she couldn't do anything about it.

After the assembly they had gone straight to morning break, which was no finishing. So she went back to her classroom with everybody else, and she pulled out her books and endured more class while trying not to daydream. It was hard. Even before lunch she started drooling again, and caught her hands wandering to her legs. The events had been so recent, but she hungered for more of that ecstasy. She understood now what the others saw in him. Or maybe it was that she was accepting what she had always seen in her brother.

Haku was no longer pestering her about the whereabouts of her brother. Now that Neru was around, the two were excitedly texting one another, which was so stupid; Neru couldn't read Japanese written on thin air: She had a short attention span.

Lunch came. Rin sat at her desk staring at her box lunch blankly, unsure of what to do. She normally ate outside of the classroom. This was because she couldn't stand the sound of Len's toys doting on him. She used to tell herself that she felt that way because the girls were annoying, but now she began to suspect that she had been jealous of him. She had wanted all of his attention to herself, and when she couldn't get it she just left him alone. Now she actually wanted him around. While all of those cute and beautiful girls could dote and touch and squeeze, she could feel his eyes on her. But he wasn't here. It made her angry. She got up with her lunch and left. Nobody paid her any mind.

As she stepped out into the hallway she came face first into something warm and soft and squeaky. Before she could fall, someone grabbed her wrist. The sensation reminded her of something. She opened her eyes with a start, her vision still unfocused.

"Oh my, are you alright?" The thick kansai accent drummed against her ears. "You look quite flustered there, sweetie." It hadn't been the person she wanted it to be. In fact, it was an older woman. The "warm and soft" had been her generous cleavage, and the "squeaky" had been her almost "breast-tight" latex clothing. A mix of artificially sweet strawberries and wine filled the air.

"Uh… Yeah… Sorry about that." The older woman gaped. Rin felt uncomfortable. "W-what…?"

The woman broke from her momentary trance and blushed. "Oh! No, I just thought—" Was she one of _women_? "You look like the person I came here for…"

Rin blinked. "Umm… What?"

"You're Lenny's sister, aren't you?" she asked inquisitively.

Lenny… The name registered vaguely in her mind. This woman was one of his "toys." Her brother's _toy_…

"You're one of them, aren't you?" Rin already knew the answer to her own question. The woman seemed to understand, and her blush became deeper. "Yeah, well, I don't know where he is. I don't want to talk to you either."

"My name is Meiko," the woman introduced herself. Her voice was oily now, unlike the soft and innocent tone it had had previously. She could tell that there would be no playing nice with this little girl, but she didn't intend to be mean either. "If you hear from your dear brother, tell him to give me a call at this number, not the usual one…"

Rin quietly accepted a blank business card with a stage name and a number. She watched Meiko go, regretting that she hadn't asked any questions herself. She was too angry right now. Looking over the numbers, she became disgusted with the paper and threw it to the floor, storming back into the room. She didn't have to eat anymore, because when she fell she had dropped her lunch all over the floor.


	4. Ripple

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_

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act I: The First Day~  
~Scene IV~_

* * *

"T-thank you for the lunch earlier…" Rin Kagamine stood abashed before him, averting his eyes.

"It's no problem. I can't see a student go without lunch." Mr. Shion was packing his bags. He delayed himself by fiddling the contents, glancing at the number of students left in the room. There were two. Haku Yowane and Akita Neru stubbornly sat in their seats, texting one another. The teacher creased his forehead and sighed.

"About this morning, Kagamine-san," he started, addressing Rin in a very businesslike tone, "I want to talk to you alone about your overall behavior in class today." He eyed the other girls, who clicked their tongues quietly and left. When the door closed, he relaxed a little, stepping up to Rin, though he didn't stop lecturing her until he was sure they were alone.

"You've been acting strangely since this morning. Is everything all right, Kagamine-san?"

"Yes, everything's fine, Sensei…"

"You don't live with your parents, right? How are things at home?"

"They're fine. I can cook for myself and you know our rent is paid for." She glanced to the side at the sound of footsteps materializing and then fading away. Mr. Shion relaxed and became Kaito again. Running a hand through his hair and breathing a sigh of relief, he stepped even closer to Rin.

"You know that's not what I meant."

His dark undertones weren't interesting anymore. She rolled her eyes and pulled Kaito to a desk far from the windows, leading him with the weight of their connected arms. "You like being older than me, don't you?"

He laughed, leaning into her, "I don't enjoy being a pedophile, no…"

"Old men sure have weird kinks," she commented, rolling her head back and blushing while he began to bite around her collarbone.

"While we're at it," he muttered, "You can tell me what it is about older men than makes young girls go wild."

"That's because I'm a pervert…"

"Oh, but that's such a boring way to go."

"What, you're writing a thesis on relationships?"

"It's not existentialism, you know."

"I don't even know what that word means." She gasped suddenly.

He bit harder. "I guess I'll have to teach you then." He made his way to the ear lobe and traced with his nose a pathway around every beautiful feature of Rin's face. "How far can I go today…? Before the weekend you were quite bold, so I hope you don't mind if I make some advances myself…"

Even after yesterday, she still wanted more. It was wrong on so many levels to keep doing this with her teacher, but how could she say no? Kaito wasn't at fault. "Just give me a sense of normalcy..." she begged him. She didn't care if her feelings were fake. What was important was that she was feeling them. And he...

He kissed Rin on the lips and pressed into her hips. She groaned loudly, but more out of surprise rather than pleasure. Her heart skipped several beats, and her eyes glazed over. She grabbed his shoulders and heaved. _Her hips began to move of their own accord. She could smell the hotel shampoo that he must have used only an hour or so ago. It was stimulating, as she imagined what he might have been doing with whatever number or variety of women._

_He hoisted her up against the wall, calling out her name vehemently. Something about the urgency with which he uttered that simple name robbed her of rational reasoning. As he moved more violently, she started to feel the sweat coming off of his solid chest. It was feeling much better now than it had been moments ago. He was still calling out to her. She wanted to let him know she was listening._

_"_Len!" She yanked hard on Kaito's hair.

"Gyah! Ow, that hurts! Rin-chan!" he cried out. He set her to the ground and freed himself from her fingers.

The sound of shattering glass drew their eyes to the door. Immediately, they stepped away from each other. The sound of running footsteps prompted Kaito to rush to the door and jam his head outside. He glanced at Rin, confused and a little angry, before darting out the door after the eavesdropper, leaving Rin alone in the silent room. Her legs trembled and gave way beneath her as she crumpled to the floor. The sun was still high outside. The blinding rays of light reminded her of her dark room. She shivered and closed her eyes, frightened.


	5. Light

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**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act I: The First Day~  
~Scene V~_

* * *

Her door closed loudly. She sank against it and curled against her knees, hiding her face and heaving for breath. It was wrong. It wasn't just wrong, it was illegal. She couldn't be with Len. She couldn't have these feelings for Len. He was her brother: they had grown up together as children. Nobody would approve of it, and she would be ridiculed by anybody who knew. And besides, a brother was supposed to be a person whom a sister could go to when nobody else could hear the trapped thoughts in her mind.

The heart meant for someone else had been tied to a string and dangled before Len's eyes. She understood now what Kaito was to her: a tool, intended to make Len as jealous of her as she had been jealous of Len. And it had worked. Now she felt so bitter for not pushing him away. But more than anything else, she wanted to pull him back to her. It was like eating candy. Once she had a taste of it, she wanted more, because the mutual feelings they had shared the previous day had been so pure and blissful that she had lived through it far too quickly. The taste stuck to her throat and reminded her with each breath of how wonderful that feeling was, how high she had flown with Len.

She swallowed her tears down and stood up, approaching Len's bedroom opposite hers. His bed was neat and untouched, as it almost always was: He was always out with his toys. There was nothing here that was deeply personal to Len, and yet now even the walls seemed like a testament to his existence. His school uniform was laid on the side of his bed. She knelt down next to it and held his shirt to her face, greedily inhaling whatever she could.

Even though it didn't smell like him, as nothing ever did, she felt somewhat sated by the action, and clutched it to her chest while she meditated on the vulgarity of her lust. Something began to vibrate. She gagged and fell backwards in surprise, dropping the shirt from which spilled a small white cell phone that was the same as hers. She recognized it as being his school phone. Len had many numbers, each one for the different lives he led behind her back. It was still flashing and shaking. She picked it up and looked at the screen, expecting it to be a call from someone.

_11/19/95 0115: Rin's Birthday_

She stared at brief reminder, holding back a sob. Her whimpers filled the room as she browsed his calendar. In addition to whatever various events he had to tend to at school or with family, he had backlogged her birthday everyday from yesterday, and had set his phone to remind him about it every afternoon. She couldn't stop crying audibly now, as she searched frantically through his phonebook, hoping for unlabeled numbers or, God help her, a number for any of his other phones—no such luck.

"DAMMIT!!!" she shrieked, breaking out into moaning cries. She catapulted the phone at the mirror closet on the opposite end of the enclosure. The glass cracked as pieces of the phone flew everywhere. Without even closing his door she crashed into her room and dove into bed, wrapping herself on the side of the blanket Len had used, burying her face in the pillow and trying to drown out her screams. A small light filled the nearly pitch black room. A car passed by the window and disappeared. She fell asleep to the noise of the rain washing the world away.


	6. Bump

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_

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 2: The Second Day~  
~Scene I~_

* * *

The door swung open violently, and Rin swayed to avoid it. But once she had cleared the door she found herself face to face with Neru Akita, who bore her down with a piercing gaze. That wouldn't faze Rin, and she brought the confrontation into a stalemate by saying nothing. Neru's expression was equally blank, but more aggressive in nature: she seemed to be trying to find an opening in Rin's behavior.

"So _irritating_…"

Rin blinked, breaking their deadlock. It was more out of surprise than anything else, but Neru took the opportunity to shove violently past. But Rin was already a step ahead, tripping Neru as she held fast to the doorknob. Stumbling forward into the wall, Neru nearly slammed face first into the window, and immediately became the subject of raucous laughter from within the classroom. But then, she smiled bitterly and flashed Rin an evil look as she stormed out of the doors.

Even though the others were shrugging it off, Rin knew better than that. The face she had just seen was one that Neru only made when she was sure of something. She might have lost the social war, but that hadn't been her objective at all.

Rin had no time or patience to care about any of that, however. She would deal with Neru's childish antics when they came. Her second foot passed the boundary just as the final bell rang. She turned from the door to her seat and crashed into someone else. Her features twisted in pain as she struck the floor with her tailbone, and again the class broke out into a brief storm of laughter. She dropped her bag, which opened and spilled its contents.

It seemed like the world was against her today. Haku, arms folded, looked down upon her with a less aggressive but no more inviting gaze than had Neru. Still, there was no malice in Haku's eyes. Rin stood up slowly and patted the dust from her skirt.

"Hmm…" Haku knelt down and picked up a history textbook and put it back in Rin's bag. "I really don't think I trust either of you, for the time being…"

"Nobody said you have to trust me," Rin murmured.

"If I don't give you a chance I'll be denying myself the thing that I really want the most." Haku came to a blue notebook, offering it to Rin, who snatched it away vociferously.

"Is that always what it has to come down to? If you stay friends with _that girl_ she'll just roll you around into a ditch, you know?" They met eyes. For a moment, she and Haku seemed to have a mutual understanding. Haku stood and pushed Rin aggressively with the tip of her finger. Rin teetered dangerously, but held her balance.

"Yowane Haku, to your seat," Mr. Shion ordered imperiously. He took no notice—in fact, completely ignored—Rin Kagamine. "Three… two…"

Haku indignantly sat down, avoiding looking at the both of them. Rin cleaned up her things and also took her seat, slumping into her arms to squeeze out the tears that had welled up. In the ensuing silence that endured for Mr. Shion's roll call, she reached into her purse for her phone. She spent so long perusing it that class began before she could find it: it simply wasn't there.

_I must've forgotten it at home_, she thought to herself. She fell asleep. Kaito wouldn't bother her for it now. She heard him mumble her name as one of those absent.


	7. Rice Bottle Wine

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_

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 2: The Second Day~  
~Scene II~_

* * *

"Mmm…"

Today she was eating her own lunch. It tasted off. Then she remembered that it was usually Len who made her lunches. One day he just started leaving them in the fridge. She hadn't noticed them then, but discovered the pile of rotting bento boxes accumulating one evening while he had been out, as usual. Feeling too lazy to prepare a proper meal for herself she had resorted to scrounging up leftovers, and found that an entire shelf had been devoted to them.

She had gotten angry at Len for leaving them there, but his response had been quite simple:

_"They're your lunches. You should have eaten them."_

The next day, the area she had cleaned out was still empty, and she had been dreading going hungry for another afternoon because of the recent events. But that morning, she had found a bento box hidden in her locker.

She had never shared her locker combination with anybody, and nobody had left any obvious evidence of breaking into her locker. On that day, Len had also ditched class.

She poked at a fish egg that seemed to be staring at her. It flattened and then rounded up again, pointing its milky eye at her. She squashed it, and the gel-like fluids encapsulated several grains of rice. She felt her temple throb and squeezed the rest of her soy sauce packet over the rice.

"That's _disgusting_…" Haku pinched her nose, a popular inside joke directed at Rin, who glowered. "You're too popular to be eating alone. The boys would cry to see you spoil such perfectly good rice. So uncouth…"

"You sound like a fossil," Rin retorted, scooping up rice into her mouth. She swallowed and paused, her mind blank. Haku waited. For what, Rin wasn't sure. It was then that Rin noticed the water bottle in Haku's hand. "Hmm…"

Haku raised the container and watched Rin's gaze. It lagged, but followed the movement. "Thirsty?" she asked.

"Kind of…" Rin swallowed: her lips were dry. She opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off.

Haku chuckled and took a swig of the slightly discolored fluid. "Are you sure you want to drink _this_?" She leaned forward and exhaled.

Rin blushed and pulled back, uncomfortable. "If you're trying to imply some perverted undertone, you're wrong. I'll go—uh…" A pause…

…and it was a very long pause. She blinked, surprised. _That's not water_, she realized, smelling the contents of Haku's breath. She looked at Haku, eyes foggy, face devoid of emotion, her hand still offering the bottle tentatively. "What's wrong?" Haku asked playfully, "Not thirsty anymore?"

It was too much. Rin wasn't in the mood for any of Haku's games. "I already told you that I don't know where he is."

"Oh?" Haku took a seat next to her classmate. "But if you knew?"

"Would I be here, at school?"

"I guess not, if he wasn't here, at school."

"Isn't that something Neru would say?"

"About who…?"

"I thought you two were friends…"

"We're close, I suppose. I like to think that I'm something special. Sometimes I think I'm being toyed with." Haku sighed distantly, although not euphorically: she upheld the air of self-confidence she had had when first approaching Rin. "One-sided relationships are hard to deal with, don't you think so?"

Rin choked on her words. She felt sick as she looked at Haku. This was unbelievable. Was Haku willing to go so low as to compare her to Neru? Of course, that may have only been a matter of opinion, but consumption etiquette was one issue: this crossed the line. "I thought we were talking about Neru?" was Rin's rhetorical response. "When did the topic shift to my brother?"

Haku lay her head back on the table and closed her eyes. There was a deafening silence, that hit harder than before. Rin sensed a change in mood. The tension was tugging on her more than it was on Haku.

"I never mentioned anything about Len," Haku murmured. Another brief pause; Rin quietly stood and left. The smell of soy sauce and fish floated about the air. Haku's stomach growled. She took Rin's leftovers and took a small bite. Her expression turned from blank to sour.

"She cooks better than Len does…"


	8. Blue

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* * *

_

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 2: The Second Day~  
~Scene III~_

* * *

Neru Akita didn't return during lunch. Rin returned to class a few minutes early. The door was unlocked. That meant that Mr. Shion would be inside. Generally, in the last five minutes of lunch period the students rushed off to finish last minute tasks, like getting books or going to the restroom. Sometimes the teachers used this opportunity to accomplish some last minute tasks of their own. Mr. Shion was one of those people. He didn't teach this period, but he was usually to be found in his homeroom, going through files or grading papers. If things were the same as yesterday, she thought, he wouldn't say anything today either.

When Rin opened the door a thick blanket of silence covered her. Two pairs of eyes followed her as she entered the room, but Rin was only interested in the strange visitor. It was an older girl with long hair, standing before the teacher's desk with a frightened expression. Mr. Shion was on the other side sitting down, hand up halfway through scratching his head. He glanced at Rin for just a moment, meeting her eyes, and then looked out the window and coughed. The third year continued to gawk and Rin, who had a feeling she had seen this person somewhere before, this person who looked like a doll…

"_Ahem_! Hatsune-san, I'm sorry, but I haven't even heard back from his parents."

The doll jumped and turned back to Kaito. Yes, Mr. Shion was Kaito right now, Rin could tell. The girl's name was Hatsune? Hatsune bowed apologetically. "Would I be able to obtain his address?"

Kaito shook his head. "If he hasn't had it listed in the directory then you'll have to look elsewhere. It's not as if I know where he lives. Err…" He pointed, without looking, at Rin. Hatsune craned her neck and eyed Rin anxiously. "You might ask her—" The bell rang. Mr. Shion stumbled over his words for a moment, composing himself. "Uhh… after class. If you'll excuse me…" Hatsune bowed again, with an even more exaggerated motion. She opened the door and looked at Rin again, some sort of chaotic emotion in her eyes.

"What?" Rin shot. Hatsune blushed and looked at Mr. Shion, blushing just a little bit as she left the classroom. Rin turned her attention to Kaito, who was staring at her unblinkingly. As soon as he realized that she was looking back, he picked up his bag. "Not going to say anything?" she asked him.

Kaito fell back into his seat. "Hatsune-san is already gone." He rubbed his eyelids, looking tired.

"I meant to me…" Rin frowned.

He did too, but with more sadness than anger. "I have nothing to say to you."

"You ought to, you know…"

"You're right, I guess," he answered quietly. " I've been thinking about what to say to you. I haven't really been able to find the right words."

"There are right and wrong words for what you want to ask me?"

He chuckled. "No, just a right and wrong time…" Rin couldn't say anything to that; just sat there. He did too, but with more sadness than anger. Then he rubbed his eyelids, looking annoyed. The clock just kept on ticking. Another bell rang. Rin didn't do anything else.

Soon enough, he left too, and then her classmates returned. Haku came last, her nearly empty bottle filled, and Rin's plastic-ware in hand. Rin said nothing. She was tired of having to say things. She closed her eyes and began to dream.


	9. Euphoria

_

* * *

_

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 2: The Second Day~  
~Scene IV~_

* * *

She couldn't find her cell phone. Rin's hand was digging, her fingers were reaching, but she couldn't find it in her bag. "How strange…" She reopened her locker and searched it, and then went back to her classroom to check her desk. "It's not here either." She felt sick. What if Len had called? It didn't seem improbable. She hadn't checked for any missed calls or messages since last night. She couldn't know if he'd contacted her or not.

She remembered Len's white phone. It was now, in all senses, useless. The pieces of the phone were probably lying about in his room. It had split into three large pieces, with various smaller parts scattered everywhere. Thinking about that brought bitter feelings to the surface. It was like a chunk of Len had been wiped off of the face of the earth. She felt so guilty for losing that phone, because it had also been a gift from Len.

_"Nii-san?" Rin called to her brother from the other side of the door. It swung open loudly. "You really need to oil your door. What are you doing that you can't come out for dinner?" She looked at Len lying sideways on his bed playing with something in his hands. She couldn't see what it was since he had his back to her._

_"I'm texting," he responded drearily. Monotonous beeping and clicking filled the gaps in conversation. "Since we don't have a television, I can't watch the game."_

_"Texting?" Rin cocked her head to one side. "Game? What game?"_

_He sat up and looked at Rin as though she were a complete idiot. "It's something you do with a cell phone. And anyway, you know I like baseball. My friend is telling me the plays."_

_Rin looked absolutely mystified. "So you can do that with a cell phone too?!" she squealed, excited. "Mommy and daddy have cell phones, but they never let me use them! I don't think I've ever had to make a call on the phone in our house either!" She jumped onto the bed and ogled the device in his hand. "Whoa! It's so tiny!"_

_"Uhh, you want one?" he asked her hesitantly. Len floated the phone left and right, watching Rin following it with her eyes. She shook her head._

_"Mommy says to ask daddy. Daddy says that I'm not responsible enough, yet."_

_He chuckled. "That's not the question I asked, baka."_

_"You're mean!" Rin made her pout face and stuck out her tongue. "Of course I want one, Nii-san! They're really cool! My teacher's phone went off today. It was really funny! Do you know what it sounded like?" She pushed forward into Len's face. "Do you? Do you, Nii-san?"_

_"Whoa!" His cheeks turned pink. "C-calm down, Rin-chan!" He pushed her away, and she fell on her back with a squeak._

_"Nii-san! What was that for, huh?!" She frowned, her eyes getting a little watery. "How come you call me 'Rin-chan' but you treat me like that, huh?"_

_"It's your fault…!" He retorted. "Don't get so close. It feels weird…" He turned his eyes to the phone, which shook and let out a brief melody. Turning away from Rin, he started to read the message he had just received. "Just go away…"_

_She did, but not until after making a rude expression. As she was closing the door, Len called out to her again. "What now, huh?" She tried to sound intimidating._

_"Rin… Do you want a phone?"_

_"Huh…? Nii-san, we talked about this already. Daddy won't get me one." She blinked. "And hey! When did you stop using honorifics?!"_

_"I'll get you one…"_

Rin stared…


	10. Nostalgia

_

* * *

_

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 2: The Second Day~  
~Scene V~_

* * *

"Ah geez." Haku massaged her head and groaned, watching the passing cars. "Standing in the middle of the street like this… I swear," she muttered as she pushed Rin to the sidewalk. "Something's wrong with your head." They reached the other end. Rin continued to stare off into nothingness. Haku looked around. She had places to go, and didn't particularly enjoy the thought of spending more time with Len's younger sister. "But I'll feel guilty if I just leave her here in a daze like this," she grumbled to herself. "Ugh… why do I have be nice…?"

She took Rin's hand and started to drag her in a direction away from her house. Of course she knew where Rin lived. After all, Rin and Len were sisters, and she would have to know where Len lived, but she didn't feel like letting Rin know that she had such a side to her.

Rin walked along as though she were on a leash. She didn't question Haku, nor did she make any sort of comment or apology. They walked into a busier part of town, where there were many different stores. She read the different signs: Company F, Sweet Ring, Pumpkin Witch…

She recognized all of the shops here. One in particular grabbed her attention.

_A young girl stood with her face plastered to the window. She razed the displays left and right with hungry eyes. The dazzling colors and glitzy lights were truly a blinding spectacle. She broke into a wave of unrestrained moans._

"_Hey, Rin-chan!" The young boy standing behind her looked cross, his hand resting on the knob. "Are you coming or not?!" He demanded impatiently. Rin looked at Len and nodded. "Well then," he opened the door and stepped inside, "Come on already!"_

"_W-whoa! Hey! Wait for me, Nii-san!" She dove in after her brother. The shop played a ringtone resembling the old children's song "Clementine." Len was already at the counter speaking with a rather amused saleswoman. She leaned over the counter with a playful smile. Rin ran up to him and bowed to the woman. "Hello! Hello!" she chirped cheerfully._

_Len coughed and turned away, feeling rather embarrassed._

"_Why, hello there, sweetie!" She relished._

_Len stepped forward, drawing their attention to him. "Rin-chan. Go pick something like you like."_

"_Anything?" Rin's eyes went wide. "Nii-san! Can I really pick anything that I want?!" He nodded. Taking off at a run, she disappeared behind some shelves and squealed._

"_Do be careful!" the woman cried, smiling exasperatedly. "Goodness…!"_

"_Don't encourage her, Kasane-chan." Len rubbed his face wearily and smiled. "This is going to make problems at home, for me."_

"_You never told me that your sister was so sweet," the lady chirped. "And you really ought to call me by my first name, after all."_

"_I'll use whichever name I see fit, Kasane-chan."_

"_Oh? That's not the name on my tag." She rubbed her chin teasingly. Len glowered. "Oh, you're so fun to tease, honey!" She giggled, pinching him on the cheek. "Introduce me while you're at it."_

"_Uh… Hey now. You shouldn't call me that while Rin's here."_

_At that moment, Rin came bursting out of an aisle different from the one she had entered. "Nii-san! Nii-san! I found it! I found it!" she sang. She looked happier than she had ever been in her life, holding a package high into the air. Len stared._

_It was a very old, and very cheap phone. So old, in fact, that it didn't even support most of the standard features that came with the more recent models, such as the ability to play music or take pictures. It was his phone, except that it was pink and unused. He was tempted to question his sibling's choice, as she might have been laughed at by some of the kids in her school for having such an old model. But the smile on her face was undeniable. He asked her, but unobtrusively, as though he were her father, forcing her to unknowingly sign a contract that would negate any liabilities he might have if she were dissatisfied with what she bought._

"_Yes!" she chimed. "Yes! Yes! I want this one! This one!"_

"_Mmm, so that's the one you want?" The saleswoman took the box from Rin and looked it over, glancing at Len with laughter in her eyes. She made sure that Rin glimpsed her nametag._

"_Yes, Teto-onee-sama!" Rin bowed like she had when she first ran up. "Because it's the same as the one my Nii-san has!" Her cheeks puffed up with pride._

"_You'll want a shared plan, then?" she turned to Len. He nodded. "Right, I'll have it ready in a few minutes. Would you like me to unwrap it for you?" She turned to the little girl who drooled with her fingers just barely reaching to the top of the counter. She nodded greedily._

"_What's that, Teto-onee-sama?" She pointed to a little chip that Teto was pushing into the back of the unassembled phone._

"_That's called an SIM Card, sweetie. You can put your favorite ringtone and save your brother's phone number on it. Oh, and do call me 'nee-san,' nee-chan!"_

"_Nee-san!" Rin repeated, taking the completed phone and staring at it. "Cool…"_

_As they left, Len gave a word of thanks to the saleswoman. As the door closed, her voice sailed out of the shop. "Anything for you, honey," she answered._

"_Nii-san! Nii-san! Can I call you?" she asked him. Len laughed lightly._

"_You can try, but I left my phone at home, so I won't answer."_

"_Aww! Nii-san, you're really mean!"_

"Hey…" Rin stopped. Haku kept going until she yanked against Rin's hand. They met eyes.

"What…?"


	11. Fair

_

* * *

_

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 2: The Second Day~  
~Scene VI~_

* * *

"Haku? Hey, umm… did Len ever…"

Standing in the middle of the sidewalk, surrounded by different people who were all going different ways, Haku felt inextricably tied to this girl's destiny. As Rin stepped up to the cell phone shop, with its tacky ads and front display, she stroked the glass euphorically. Then she turned back to Haku.

"Did he ever talk about his personal life? You know, like about his parents, or what he does when he's alone?"

She hesitated. Helping her enemy like this, Haku that it was perfectly normal to have doubts. "No," she answered, despite her disinclinations. "Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering," she mumbled, "If he ever talked about me…"

Haku observed Rin carefully. The fondness with which she caressed the old metal handle expressed a deep appreciation of this place. Whatever it meant to Rin, it was important, and somehow connected to Len. That was worth something. "Only once…" Rin looked up. "And he didn't talk about you for very long."

Rin winced, as if the afterthought had wounded her. "What did he say?" she asked.

"No." Haku turned her back.

Rin blinked. "What? Why…?"

"I think we should trade."

"Trade…? Trade what?"

"Information. You want to know something from me about Len, right? Well, I want to know something from you."

They traded dubious looks. Rin looked back at the store. "It depends, I guess, on what you want to know." She sighed and sat against the wall. "Shoot."

"What is the significance of this place?" Haku went up to the sign and looked inside. It was full of nothing but ordinary phones, and devices for those phones. For some reason, the store was open, but there was nobody inside. "How does it relate to Len?"

"Is that all?"

"Yup." Was Rin trying to dodge the question? She wouldn't fall for any tricks. She was getting her answer one way or another.

"You'll probably laugh, or hate me for telling you a stupid story."

"Try me." Haku folded her arms defiantly.

Rin shrugged. "Suit yourself," she warned. "When we were younger, Len was the first one to get a cell phone. I always wanted one, but my parents wouldn't let me. Some of the kids at my old school would make fun of me, just because I didn't have one. One day, when Nii-san—" Haku looked away for a moment. "—wouldn't come out for dinner, I went to get him, and he was using a cell phone. I was so interested with it, and wanted one so badly, that he promised to get me one for my birthday. He even paid for the service, and still does to this day. He let me pick any phone I wanted, so I picked an old one, just because it was the same kind that he had.

"You're probably wondering why I'm thinking about something like that right now. Well, to be honest, it's really kind of stupid. I lost that phone recently, and I've been feeling really bad about it. I know, it's dumb, huh? Right now, everyone is wondering where Nii-san went, and all I can think about is what I did with my stupid phone. But, I don't know, I guess it just means a lot to me."

"H-hang on, now… You mean, _nobody_ knows what happened to your brother?" Haku's expression was one of disbelief. "What about your parents? I know you don't live with them, but shouldn't they at least know what their own son is doing?"

Rin shook her head. "Len was the one who took care of me. I haven't told anybody yet that Len's gone missing…"

"Well, it counts for something, doesn't it…?"

"What does?"

"Well," Haku scratched the back of her head lamely. "You said that he paid for your phone, and that he pays the bill for your service?"

"Um… Uh-huh."

"I think, from a sentimental point of view…" Haku spoke slowly, as though she were reasoning with herself, and not with Rin. "You told me that it was stupid, but I don't think so. The fact that Len would keep paying for your service for such a long time is worth something to me…"

"What do you mean?" Rin was confused.

"Uh, hang on, why th'heck am I helping _you_? Ah, geez…" Haku looked her in the eyes and laughed self-derisively. "I really _am_ far too nice for my own good…"

"That's rather conceited of you."

"I don't really know the situation," Haku continued, ignoring Rin's remarks, "But if he was the one taking care of you financially, he must be pretty loaded. I've never thought about it, but he does seem like the kind of person you would find at a ritzy party…"

"What the heck is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Hmm…"

When one ceased talking, so did the other. While Rin twiddled her thumbs and watched the people go by, Haku turned back to the store and looked it over. A woman from the inside noticed her through a door, and they met eyes for just a few minutes. Eventually, the saleswoman disappeared from view. Rin stood up and started to walk off.

"Don't worry about your side of the bargain. I got more than enough from giving…"

"He said to treat you nicely."

Rin froze. Someone walked into the store. She turned around and stared at Haku expectantly.

"Len," Haku explained. "He told us to be nice to you. Neru was the one who asked who the 'Kagamine girl' was on the first day of school." Haku blushed as she recounted the memory, Len's handsome face filling her mind. "'She's rough, unrefined, and simple. You might like her, you might not. But she's my sister. If I'm a prince, then I guess that makes her the princess.' Those were his words when he talked about you. After that, he…"

"No, thanks," Rin continued walking. Too cliché. "I've heard enough…"

"Oh…" Haku watched her go. "…Kay."


	12. Toss

_

* * *

_

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 2: The Second Day~  
~Scene VII~_

* * *

She didn't eat when she got home. She didn't feel hungry. Her stomach was still churning from before. So she resigned herself to her room without even changing clothes. Instead, she slept on her side of the bed, and completely avoided Len's side. She couldn't be having those feelings anymore. They were siblings. It was wrong. Her concern for his well-being had to be something familial. It was time to grow up and start facing life. Parents didn't marry their children for the same reason that brothers and sisters didn't marry each other. It was a different kind of love that she had to feel for Len. So, yes, what she was feeling was completely platonic. And it was that way because that was the way it was, the way it simply had to be, because that was what other people decided.

So, even though Len was the person she thought about the most, it didn't mean she wanted him to think about her too. Even if she always tried to think about what he thought about, even if she thought he was trying to do the same, even if neither of them could help but to play such a simple mind game with each other, it meant nothing.

And, even though thinking about Len made her heart race and pound in her chest, it didn't mean it was beating out of affection for him. Just because memories both sweet and bitter flooded into her mind, just because talking to him made every word mean something in life, just because being with Len fixed her eyes to his, drew her hand to his, slaved her happiness to his, didn't mean that he was her "everything."

So what if she wanted Len right now? That wasn't something they had ever bothered to define. So what if seeing him with other girls drove her mad with jealousy? So what if his absence made her heart throb painfully? So what if the feel of his warm body against hers, and the sound of his gentle voice in her ear, and the scent of his sweat filling her nostrils was all that it would take to make all of this—this pain—just go away?

"It's not fair," she cried. "It's just not fair."

She got out of bed and took a hot shower. The water was hot enough to make her skin red. She couldn't feel it. It was very cold. She felt empty. The water could wash away the dirt, but it couldn't wash away the pain. Neither could it take away the weight of her sin. She covered the latter with her towel.

Len's door was slightly ajar. If her brother had been home, he wouldn't have watched quietly from a distance while his precious sister sobbed her heart out in need of him. He would have approached her, forcefully opening her door with his master key, and would have embraced her tightly and whispered nonsense into her ear. He would have tucked her into bed and kissed her cheek and held her all night.

She went back to her room without entering Len's. It was too dark to see, because her eyes were still adjusting, so she turned on the lights. One of the picture frames on her bedside table had been flipped down. She flipped it up again. It was a picture of Kaito eating ice cream. "Len," she murmured, removing the picture from its frame. She stared at it for a while, and then folded it in half, setting it down behind all of the pictures of her and Len, together.

"It must have been hard for him, too… I wasn't thinking."

A tear rolled down her cheek. That night, she cried quietly. Even though it wasn't raining, the washing noise in her ears was just deafening…


	13. Cicada Song

_

* * *

_

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 3: The Third Day~  
~Scene I~_

* * *

Zero… Four… Three… Seven…

Zero… Four… Three… Eight…

Zero… Four… Three… Nine…

Nothing…

She kept staring. The green digits on her clock did not reappear. She continued to wait for them. They were unceasing in their teasing absence. The cicadas were singing. That was unusual. It was somewhat late for there to be cicadas around. Was the window open? Rin turned from her clock to the curtains. Sure enough, it swayed with an incoming breeze. It was dark out. There was also supposed to be a street lamp outside of her house. There was probably a power outage going on right now. A strong wind passed outside. The hissing call of winter beckoned her to unpack her winter garments. The back of her neck tingled. It felt as though someone were outside of her door.

_I need to get some sleep_, she thought to herself. It was too early to be up. She needed to sleep more if she expected to get to school on time. Even though her eyes were closed, it was too hard to stop thinking. There was nothing to think about, so it bothered her. All she could do was conceptualize the word "blank" over and over.

They felt rough and callused: His hands were deceptively so. But they were his hands, and that was enough, because they were warm. She wondered if he had noticed the tears that oozed from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. He had never been so sweet to her in his life. How hard it must have been to keep these feelings buried deep down, harder more so to restrain himself when it was just the two of them. Was this the reason that he expressed himself upon other women?

She had wanted to ask him, but was afraid of the answer he might have given. Over time the pain must have dulled, but for him to still feel it so strongly meant he must have been taking it hard. Why did he have to hold it all in? Why couldn't he bare his heart to his own sister?

With this, they really might have only been as good as strangers. Could he really put aside the memories of the childhood they had lived through? Deep inside, she wanted what he also wanted. The highs of these complex emotions were more than enough of an exchange for a sweet and precious childhood. She was willing to give up a conditional happiness for an unconditional one. But to Len her emotions might have seemed to be conditional on their own: that is, he was afraid that she was afraid.

How ironic that she could think about all of this only now. Back then it was easy enough to be naïve. They both lost themselves to the physical and emotional flash bang. What did Len think of in those most fragile moments, when he tested the mettle of his brittle heart?

Was it something of joy?

Was it something of gratitude?

Was it something of doubt?

Was it something of regret?

Perhaps when he had concluded it for himself, he hadn't been able to ignore the inconsistencies in their small, simulated world. Or was he being considerate for her sake? That would also be rather typical of him to play the chauvinist. It probably came from his habit of living a lie. She was living one too, so she could understand that. Why couldn't he accept that it was okay? That it was something for them to work out? That was the unavoidable question.

She didn't really know how he felt. The glimpse she had been let to see had been brief and confusing. He was afraid, deep inside, of destroying that which they both treasured so dearly. _She herself_ was what mattered most.

No…

Their hearts were the problem. They couldn't empathize. It was a lack of understanding that had forced Len into a tight corner. While her heart was full and whole, his was cracked and fragmented. He had pieces missing, pieces he had hidden away with those who were willing to break their own hearts to meld with his.

Her heart was broken now. She had done that to herself. In an abstract world devoid of useless language, Len had come to understand only a part of that. He was blaming himself for the inevitable. There was no looking back. Nothing was there anymore. The bond that they shared as siblings had come from dust, and so now there was only a commemorative pillar, without a plaque or a sign to mark what had once been.

Her throat felt dry. The warm hand was soothing. She closed her eyes and cried herself to sleep. It was so much warmer tonight than any night since… She felt happy for some reason, as though the edges of her broken heart had connected to something. The pieces had fit so well, that she couldn't feel the seams at the teeth.


	14. Skit Tish

_

* * *

_

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 3: The Third Day~  
~Scene II~_

* * *

Haku didn't show up for class. While Mr. Shion took roll call, Rin vacantly stared out the window. The colors of the leaves were changing. It was all too late for autumn to just be rolling around. The trigger finger trees had all but yellowed out, while the heavier summer trees were still racing to catch up. Sitting in trees at the edge of the block were a multitude of birds. Some flew about from perch to perch, while others hugged their spots defensively.

Something was odd about the leaves. Rin focused on the spot she had noticed just now. The color was off. Right there, almost completely hidden from view, was a brief flash of teal. She could see it clearly now. Yes, there was the gray and black with white stripe that signified the third year class. There was the badge that represented the school with its wild display of colors. There was the pale white skin that Rin could recognize so clearly. And there, she could see the deep green eyes reflecting her distantly curious eyes, both staring right back at her.

"!"

Everybody turned to look at Rin. She was quiet. Her book lay open face down on the floor, the pages bent. Mr. Shion cleared his throat and turned back to the chalk board. Rin glanced at him for a brief moment. He forced himself not to notice. Very slowly, she bent over to pick up her things.

"Rin!"

"Y-yes…!" She rotated to Mr. Shion abruptly, dropping her book a second time in the process.

Kaito pushed his glasses inward. "Please translate this sentence to _English_." He indicated the sentence written on the board. Everybody read it. Nobody laughed.

It was a perfectly ordinary sentence. She looked at Kaito with disdain. He stood patiently, waiting for her to swallow her pride. "_In the afternoon, I like to go for a leisurely walk through the park_." It came out clearly and naturally. Even Kaito seemed a little bit surprised yet, unfazed; he continued his class without a pause.

Some of the others were still gawking. Of course, none of them could have known that she had lived in America for four years. And obviously, because she came from a conservative Japanese family, nobody would suspect that she was one of the most westernized students in the class. But there was also…

Rin reached down for her book again. She shook the dust from it and straightened the pages, staring at the hard cover. _American English_, it read, with a tacky illustration of an old steam engine blueprint that was chock full of confusing labels and notations. As she set it upon her desk, Rin pulled out a pencil and paper and began to write. She only listened to Mr. Shion absentmindedly. Even though she knew he was trying to recapture her attention, she paid Kaito no mind, because he wasn't bringing it into class any further.

Slowly, very slowly, Rin raised her head from her work. She moved her palm from her cheek and brought it down to the desk, and then set her pen down after scribbling notes up to the amount the rest of the class had written. Very cautiously, she set her pen down as quietly as she could manage. Then she turned her eyes.

They turned down from the sky and back onto Rin, like a pair of gigantic spotlights. Under that docile gaze, Rin felt exposed, almost naked as it were. Perhaps the girl was staring at Kaito? Rin turned to look at him, but he seemed unaware of the ongoing communication. When she turned back to the figure sitting in the tree, she saw that the figure was turning from Kaito back to her.

Nothing…

They locked eyes for a long time. Rin couldn't even keep track of time. Eventually, the girl called "Hatsune" closed her eyes and lay her head back on the trunk of the tree. A few birds flocked to her and landed upon her shoulders and head, some others finding resting places along her knee and arms and hands. She didn't look up again.

"Rin…"

She turned to Kaito, who was writing another sentence down on the board. Without being asked to, Rin stood up and began translating the first part of the sentence that Kaito had already written. "_You are noisy_…"

He froze, his shoulders raised together. Only three classmates laughed. Probably, only one of them actually understood what had just transpired. The rest of them looked on, mystified. She sat back down, her expression sour. The girl in the trees was still sleeping.

Leaving that sentence unfinished, a disgruntled Mr. Shion began to write anew on another part of the board. "Erm, Kinoshita, why don't _you_ try this one?"


	15. Media

_

* * *

_

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 3: The Third Day~  
~Scene III~_

* * *

For just a moment, Rin turned her gaze up to the tree…

…or rather, she started to.

In that moment, Haku diverted her focus from the wine to Rin. She took instant action. Whirling around, she spotted a classmate whom she was mildly acquainted with that was looking in her direction and waved. It was hard to grab her friend's attention without trying to seem overly obvious, but it did the trick, and Rin sensed Yowane idling back to drink.

"Ichinose-san…? I'd no idea you were so close."

Rin played out a glower. "The way you said that would make anyone think I swim against the current." It was a close call. She couldn't let on that she was investigating something.

Haku had been waiting for her when she had arrived. Sensing, perhaps, that something was amiss, she clung stubbornly to her side. She had come to interrogate Hatsune, who clearly knew more than she would let on; except, she couldn't let Haku know about that. Concerning her brother, she couldn't let anybody know anything. It was important that she, Rin Kagamine, be the first to find out where he was. Whatever Neru was doing out of class, it probably had to do with Len.

"Hmph!" Haku turned up her nose. "And you call _me_ old?"

Rin shrugged. "I just take what you give me…"

"Right…" A loud rumbling filled what would have been a pause. Haku blushed and quickly swallowed an excessive portion of wine.

"Shame on you; cutting class yet still showing up to mooch a lunch…" Sighing, Rin pushed the remainder of her lunch away and avoided looking at it. When Haku stared dumbly at the gesture, Rin shoved it in front of her.

"Erm… You don't want it?" Haku's stomach whined again: She nervously raised her bottle to her lips, about to sip from it. Rin snatched it from Haku's hand. "Ah—H-hey!"

"Take it!" Rin indicated the lunch. "It's not good for a young woman to go hungry. That's what Nii-san told me when he made these damnable things."

"…"

"And besides," Rin went on, "Sake won't fill your belly, it'll just make it bigger. Why do you think alcoholics can chug so much of this crap?"

"That's pretty strong language for a _young woman_…"

"You're one to talk."

"What'll you do about it?"

This time, Rin glowered sincerely. Haku had a knack for being difficult in difficult times. Apologetically, Haku took a polite bite, chewed, and swallowed gracefully. She stared down at her feet. They were back to square one, unable to speak a word to one another. It was as ceremonious a silence as it was unsettling.

"So," Haku mumbled, "Len made this lunch." As she asked, she seemed to gain more of an appetite, and started to eat. Rin watched silently, neither giving a verbal nor a physical answer. To this, Haku felt inclined to eating more openly. Whether this was meant as an apology or whether she was trying to distract herself, it only added to the stupidity of the awkward moment.

Rin leaned over one palm. "Since when did you get so friendly with me?"

"…"

"I mean, think about it. Until just yesterday you always treated me like you hated my guts. Why open up to me now…?"

Haku swallowed and looked away. "I fail to recognize how I'm opening up to you…"

"I can read you like a book, y'know?"

"Maybe I'm just the honest type?"

"I guess that makes me the gullible type."

"Akita-san seems to think so…"

"Why use _that_ honorific?"

Haku snorted. "What, you think the female population is unanimously united against you? You're too conceited. Maybe they _should_ be, if that's how you really are."

"So they aren't?"

"They say Miku Hatsune is the most popular girl in school, but she won't even turn an eye to Len as far as anyone can tell. But she's a third year, so I guess that's kind of natural, anyway…"

Miku… So _that_ was her name? Rin stood up abruptly.

"Hmm…?"

From across the yard, the teal haired twin pony-tails fluttered in the sudden breeze. The air tore through the trees and produced a long, sad cry. Miku Hatsune stared back. They both stood still, not daring to break away from the gaze.

Haku looking over her shoulder, commented quietly. "Guess winter's calling…"


	16. Surface

_

* * *

_

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 3: The Third Day~  
~Scene IV~_

* * *

The world seemed a rooftop higher away. The difference was enough. Rin sighed, eyes closed. This was a careless moment. She wanted to cast her meaning to the wind. A purposeless existence suited for a pauper…

"What am I doing here…? I feel as though I've forgotten what it was I was that I was searching so desperately for. Maybe that would be best, right? Just letting go and letting the current take me over. Why fight it? Maybe he's at the bottom, waiting for me, wondering what could possibly be taking me so long. And here I am, swimming against the flow and talking to myself. He'd probably laugh if he could see me now. Oh, my god, I think I'm going to go crazy…"

She started laughing. It started out gradually, but grew from soft breathy chuckles to bellowing chortles. From where she stood, the sky seemed to be coming down. There was nothing to be accomplished from climbing a high place and looking in every direction. She wouldn't find Len here, or anywhere that she would be able to see from here. There was nothing. This was just an act, a means of expression for someone who had never learned to properly express herself before. Perhaps Neru Akita could understand something like that.

"I'd like to think that you could… It would be nice if we could get along."

"…"

"Nah, I didn't expect you to say anything back. It's probably best if you don't, either…"

"…"

Deep inside, she wished that Neru could offer some word of kindness. She didn't like having bitter feelings about other people. Hating was so worthless, now that she could empathize with Neru. Growing up was painful. It might have been easier if she could continue to dislike her in earnest, but now that she could understand, she couldn't bring herself to do it, regardless of Neru's personal feelings.

"After all, I guess I've fallen in love with him too. I don't know if you can, or are willing to relate that feeling. Maybe it is wrong, since we're family, but I don't really care…"

"How long do you think you can convince people with that lie?"

"…"

Rin turned around slowly. She stared at the ground between her feet. She couldn't see Neru, but sensed that she was doing the same. "So this is the result of what you've been doing for all this time? You can't even bring yourself to look at me anymore? Are you that defeated by the truth?" Rin looked up first. Neru got down on one knee, and then sat down on the ground. She shed a tear, looked up, and smiled wistfully.

"I can't have him?" she pleaded. "I really have to give in to you…?"

"Akita-san—"

"I saw him today…"

"…!"

The leaves in the trees rustled. They seemed to be whispering, as if gossiping. It made Rin feel self-conscious. She wasn't sure what to expect of Neru at this point. How much did she know? How much had Len told her? For that matter, _what_ had Len told her? She was afraid to ask. If Len didn't want to see her anymore, she at least had to hear it from his lips. It would be the only excuse she could get to see him again.

"W-where…" she started weakly.

"It's not fair…" Neru curled into a ball, crying. "It's not right. Why not me? Why other women and not me? Why you…?!"

"Akita-san…"

"SHUT UP! DON'T EVEN USE MY LAST NAME! YOU SICKEN ME! I CAN'T EVEN LOOK AT YOU ANYMORE!!!" In a rage, Neru Akita got up and shoved Rin to the floor. With a monstrous roar she leapt upon her prey, and with the skilled hands of a hungry predator she gripped Rin's throat and pressed hard. It was quiet again, and still.

"Why…?" Neru sobbed. The tears ran down her cheek and onto Rin's pale face. Neru's hands lay palmed against the floor. "WHY DO YOU HAVE TO LOOK LIKE HIM?! THE RESEMBLANCE IS SO DISGUSTING THAT I CAN'T EVEN EXPRESS IT IN WORDS!"

"…"

From somewhere, a cell phone began to ring. The song was familiar. Neru cursed and ripped a pink phone from her bag, tossing it on the ground. Still crying, she dashed through the door and disappeared down the stairs. Rin lay still. Eventually, she started to sing in a broken voice, suppressing the urge to sob.

"In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine, dwelt a miner, forty-niner, and his daughter, Clementine…"


	17. Base

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 3: The Third Day~  
~Scene V~_

* * *

Two long, solemn beeps. _B-bmp... _Two more. _B-bmp... _Two more. _B-bmp... _Two more. _B-bmp... _CLICK! "The number you have dialed is not available now. Please check the number and try again later."

Two long, solemn beeps. _B-bmp... _Two more. _B-bmp... _Two more. _B-bmp... _Two more. _B-bmp... _CLICK! "The number you have dialed is not available now. Please check the number and try again later."

She dialed again. Knees to her chest, tears burning her dry, wind chapped face. Her hands shook. Never before did Rin think that her house could have been so quiet. But it had always been that way from the start, she realized. It wasn't as though Len was ever home to begin with, so under normal circumstances it wouldn't be any less tolerable than it ought to have been now. But circumstances were not normal now. There was a need. There was a reason for her rising insanity.

"The number you have dialed is not available now. Please check the number and try again later."

Len had stopped coming home in the summer of her last year in primary school. The feelings of lostness and confusion that she had felt that first night all alone in the house was one that returned to her now. She'd felt abandoned and frightened. All through the night she had lay on the living room sofa with all of the house lights, the radio, and even the television set, on. That first night without Len had been one of the worst experiences she had ever gone through.

Minute unto minute, hour unto hour, deep into the morning she had flooded her call logs with Len's phone number. It was incessant and manic, each dial tone cutting into her. When finally he picked up at four odd-something in the morning, Rin was in tears. She pleaded for him to come home, begged desperately that he journey out from wherever he was and make his way back to the house despite the fact that it was so late or too early, rather and raining. It was just like now, she thought to herself.

If he picked up... Would he pick up? If he picked up, what would he say? Would he come home? If she just kept dialing and dialing and dialing and dialing was it possible that the strength of her wish would bring her to his side again?

"The number you have dialed is not available now. Please check the number and try again later." When Rin had opened her door on a night not unlike this one, some two or three summers ago, she had met that person.

_The doorbell rang. Her ears filled with the mocking laughter of a game show, the radio blaring next to her, Rin was not quite sure if she had heard it at all. Sitting up tentatively with her puffy eyes to the hallway, she listened for it. A hollow knocking sound resounded. Her heart leapt. Tripping over the sofa's arm and hooking her blanket out over the floor, Rin stumbled into the hall and her fingers flew onto the locks. Len was home! He had come home._

_Simultaneously twisting the deadbolt and ripping the door chain open, she shouted, "LEN!" as a tall, voluptuous, long haired woman presented herself at the opening with an eerily warm smile on her face._

_Next to her, sheltered in the woman's umbrella but still slightly damp, was Len. Recognizing him at once Rin siezed him and wrapped around him tightly. The night air was filled with child-like sobs._

_"NII-SAN! UAAAAAH! NII-SAN BAKA! I WAS SO SCARED, NII-SAN! YOU DIDN'T EVEN CALL! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! UAAAAAH!"_

_Len's face was coldly sympathetic and stern. He hugged her back awkwardly and pried Rin loose so that he could go inside. The younger sister just stood there and continued to cry._

_"There, there, sweetie," the woman beckoned soothingly. "Everything's fine now. 'Onii-sama' has come home. Let's go inside before we catch a cold, hmm?"_

_Obstructed by her uncontrollable sobs, Rin could manage only a shaky nod. When the two girls were inside Len instructed her to leave. "You've done a lot tonight, Luka. Thank you."_

_"I can't leave like this," she exclaimed, evidently fascinated with the house. "Just look at this place! It's a mess! Everything's on and we've got a cute little girl who's crying her heart out!"_

_"Tche-! Do what you want. I'm going to shower and change." Len disappeared into his room and Rin, alone with the woman named Luka, tried to stop crying. Luka knelt down and wiped Rin's face down until it was dry and red._

_"T-thank you, onee-sama..." Rin mumbled meekly, impressed by Luka's beauty. Her voice still quivered just a little bit. She resisted the impulse to cry again. Now that she could see better she decided that Luka was very beautiful, and told her so. Luka smiled gracefully, petting Rin on the head.\_

_"My name is Luka Megurine," she introduced herself. "I'm, uh... Len's tutor." That graceful smile again. In an exaggerated motion Luka shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. The sound of running water permeated the noisy house. "It's really cold," she said. "Let's go turn everything off first and then we can warm up while your Onii-sama takes a shower."_

_Just happy to have her brother home, having been alone for the last six hours, Rin consented to spending time with her new friend._

"That person..."


	18. Guttural

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 3: The Third Day~  
~Scene VI~_

* * *

_When her older brother emerged from the hallway t-shirt and towel clad, Rin and Luka were getting along famously. Having regained her composure, Rin's red lined eyes followed Luka's darting hands as they crossed the kitchen countertop. Neat lines of sliced carrots and celery and cute little piles of roughly diced potatoes decorated a large blue chopping board._

_"Rin, dear," Luka called. "Can you set the stove to high?" The middle schooler scrambled to the stove and turned the burners all the way up. A boiling pot of beef and broth began to turn. Luka removed the lid and with a knife swept everything cleanly into the frothing mixture. Len stood in the middle of the hall and watched, a gentle smile on his face. It probably made him happy to see the girls having fun. Luka moved a stool up to the counter and had Rin stand on it._

_"Here, you can cut the onions." She guided the child on holding a knife and the motions needed to properly slice through vegetables, assisted Rin in measuring out thin, evenly sliced rows._

_Eyes watering, Rin noticed her brother and squealed. "Nii-san! Look! Look! Luka-onee-sama and I are making stew! OW!" She cut her finger, the onion juices stinging her eyes and nose and stimulating her tear glands. Luka quickly took the knife away._

_"See! I told you to be careful!" Rin cried from the onions and sucked on her pinky. Luka scolded her and produced a band-aid from her person, wrapped it around Rin's finger and clasped her tiny hands. "Always pay attention when using a knife. Understand?"_

_Rin did understand. She ran up to Len and hugged him. That was when she realized that he wasn't wearing any pants. "Nii-san!" she exclaimed. "G-go put something on! Don't walk around the house like that! We have guests!"_

_"Ah...! Yeah," Len agreed, as if only realizing now that what he was doing was very inappropriate. Luka bubbled girlishly and chided him. While he was gone, the doorbell rang again._

_"I'll get it!"_

_Walking after Rin, Luka saw in the doorway a stiff gentleman in a suit, arms folded and without an umbrella. "Madame..." he urged her softly. She bowed and apologized. Len came out then, drying his hair, but wearing pants now. They looked at each other and nodded._

_"Geez," he scolded the towering woman. "You're so irresponsible."_

_Luka smiled heartily. "Sorry about that, Len."_

_"Luka-onee-sama has to go home? What about the stew?" Rin looked over her shoulder at the pot. "You really can't stay?"_

_"I'm sorry, sweetie." She patted Rin on the head again. "Len will help you. So goodbye then. I hope we meet again okay?"_

_"Okay..."_

_"Let's go then, Kazehaya-san." Luka turned to Len one last time and winked. "I seem to be owing you a lot these days, don't I?" Len shrugged and waved her off. Rin yawned sleepily. As her brother went to the stove to check on Luka's progress, she tugged at his shirt with tears in her eyes._

"Stupid!" he had scolded her later. "I sent you a text message! I bet you didn't see it huh?" And he really had. It was in her inbox, and there was even a notification on her phone about it. Len was angry at her for a long time after that. She didn't quite understand it then, but later on...

Her stomach growled. Remembering the stew had made her hungry. After that woman had left the house that night, Len finished it in her place. Even though Rin had wanted to help, she had been up all night crying and was exhausted. When they were finally able to have a seat at the sofa in front of the television, she had fallen asleep without having a single bite.

That was the first time she had become aware of Len's secret life. It also marked the point in which their relationship began its rapid deterioration. After that incident, they became more distant from each other. It was subtle at first. She didn't even know anything was wrong until one evening when she'd come home to find a stranger, a girl, sleeping in his bed. That had set off a powder keg in the house. He stopped going with her to school in the morning and began long periods of absence in which he never even came home at all.

Rin quickly learned to adapt to these changes, still traumatized by Len's animosity after the Luka incident. But it had hurt her deep inside, to see him changing like this. At times she even questioned if she had really know Len at all over the last nine years. As he became less and less sensitive to Rin's feelings, she became more and more spiteful towards the growing number of women around him.

There had only ever been one other girl whom she had caught in the house, apart from Luka. She was quite sure that Luka, too, was one of them. It made her feel queasy thinking about it, for Luka had been so kind and friendly.

She didn't want to be pitied by anyone. That was the worst thing about it. Len was suck a jerk! Couldn't he even see the damage he had been doing to his own sister? Didn't he know that, because of him, even the other girls in school hated her? So then, why did we—

_—"Len," Haku explained. "He told us to be nice to you. Neru was the one who asked who the 'Kagamine girl' was on the first day of school." Haku blushed as she recounted the memory, Len's handsome face filling her mind. "'She's rough, unrefined, and simple. You might like her, you might not. But she's my sister. If I'm a prince, then I guess that makes her the princess.' Those were his words when he talked about you. After that, he..."_

"Stupid girl..." Her chest stretched painfully. It tingled, not unlike how she felt that night. But it was so much stronger, and it didn't feel good at all, and this time there was no one to touch that place, to press back and keep her heart from pulling out of her. All the way from within her, from a place so deep within her that stretched outward and fed itself back out over reality she felt a massive pull. Like she was twisting around and coming out inside-out.

"Shit...! Hngh! It... It really hurts!"

Rin started to sob. Like the onion she had cut up. Cutting into her hand. Bringing forth unwanted tears.

"It hurts!"


	19. Catalyst

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 4: The Fourth Day~  
~Scene I~_

* * *

Everyone was milling about the yard early that morning. The school was abuzz in anticipation for an up-and-coming culture day, even though it was so far away. And anyway it was the usual morning hubbub, except now there was a slightly less illegitimate reason for rabble-rousing. Even Rin Kagamine had come early today. There were still only a few students roaming the school. Prowling the halls in search of entertainment was asking for trouble, but for a lot of students who had already adjusted to the hot summer, the drop in temperature proved too cool for them to bear.

Rin had a different purpose from the others though. She was waiting for someone at the gate. Today, she knew, was the last day anyone would see her at school this week, or maybe next week. Her backpack was unusually full, packed with extra clothes and food.

Her eyes were heavy with sleeplessness. She'd spent the entire morning planning it out. If there were any clues to her brother's whereabouts, it might be with Luka Megurine, a popular singer and idol. She'd done a lot of homework. Because Luka was in the entertainment industry, it made her more publicly available. Somehow, there just had to be something worth looking into there. It was the only thing she had right now.

Rin spotted her quarry, a tall, elegant teal-haired girl with an angelic green eyed countenance. She was with Riza again, and they were speaking in hushed voices. Standing between the pillars of the gate, her arms outstretched, Rin bore down on third year Miku Hatsune with a determined gaze. Everyone around her stopped and stared, whispered to each other quietly.

"Kagamine-chan..." Riza murmured. Miku straightened herself and bowed politely.

"Can I help you?"

"As a matter of fact, you can." Rin replied. Miku and Riza traded looks, and Riza sighed. Rin stepped aside to let them pass, then followed them into the school, where they went into a student body room and locked the door behind them. "Is it really okay to be in here?"

"Of course not." Riza palmed her face. "I'm a member of the student council, so I'll allow it. But only for a few minutes, so make it quick, you two. Now, if you'll excuse me..." She sidestepped her way to some cabinets and began flipping through the folders. Miku sat down by the window and folded her hands over the table, smiling pleasantly at Rin.

"Well? There is something you need say to me?"

Even so, it was just a little deferential. "You have been seeing my brother, Len Kagamine, yes?"

Miku nodded. "Is there a problem?"

"Then you know that he's been absent from school this entire week." Another affirmative nod, but Miku was a little less composed now. "So... there are a lot of things I want to know, depending on how you answer. I'll start with this: Have you been in contact with my brother at all over the last four days?"

The pretty young lady in a sailor uniform turned pink in her cheeks. Hesitating, she told Rin that Sunday had been the last time she had ever seen the boy. "We had a... date. After that he... left. I don't know where he went after that."

"You haven't seen him since then?"

"No..."

"Neither of you have called each other? Not even a text?" Rin was patiently reserved, but with each question Miku was becoming more and more frantic, as much as she tried to conceal it.

"He doesn't... I tried... calling his phone but he never... When I call, it doesn't even ring." Rin perked up. When she called Len's phone, it rang. Always. But if Len had really given Miku a different number, then the phone for it had been shut off or disconnected. But hadn't she broken Len's cell phone? So, none of that made any sense, unless... "When I send texts," Miku went on. "They get returned. It says that Len's... y-your brother's number, isn't in service."

That definitely didn't make any sense, because when Rin sent a text message it was never returned. She set down her backpack in front of Miku and opened it up, digging her hands deep into the other items, not caring whether or not Miku saw what was inside. "This is," Rin explained, pulling out a jagged white phone, "Len's phone. One of them..."

When Rin said that, Miku started to cry. But she held it in, the poor girl, and listened. Rin told her the number, asked her to confirm whether it was the same or different. It was not. "So then," she muttered, half in thought. "I've been calling him non-stop since Monday evening. I've been texting him too. But when I call, it rings, and when I text they aren't returned. I didn't realize it at the time, but my brother's phone never rang once in that time."

Riza turned from her work and looked up at Rin. Miku, too, suddenly seemed much more interested in what Rin was saying. "So that means that he has a phone that's on."

"Are you suggesting we report this to the police and have them use his phone to locate him?" Riza spoke. "You'll forgive me for getting involved, but just now I heard something interesting." Miku's eyes went wide. She glared at Riza, who flipped her hair and scoffed. "You're being soft, Miku. This girl is underestimating us."

"What are you insinuating?" Rin stood up defensively. Riza moved in on her, pressing into her sphere of comfort.

"I think this is a very, very desperate situation for you, Kagamine. Much more important than you let on." Rin didn't understand the significance. "I'll tell you then," Riza replied. "I think that you have a different reason, an ulterior motive for trying to find your brother. Something that goes beyond..." Rin twitched. "...sibling love."

Miku covered her mouth with her hands and looked outside the window. Rin watched her knead her thumbs anxiously. The mistake was in the fact that she had admitted to calling Len's phone, even though she had explained that his phone had been in her possession the entire time. It said something, that... about her relationship with Len. That simply wasn't seen as normal, and it wasn't, either.

She had been caught up in the discovery of hidden truths that she had forgotten who she was and where they were. "Tch! Believe what you want. I'm going."

"Stop!" A loud, commanding voice resounded throughout the room. Miku stood up, tears rolling down her pretty white cheeks, kicked her chair to the side. "You'll tell me where you're going!"

"I'm just gonna go to homeroom..." Rin tried to play it off.

But Riza knew better. "If we followed you, that would be a lie." No more speculation in her words. She was being very clear. "You know where Len is, don't you?"

Miku's fist clenched. She was visibly suppressing feelings of rage. "I don't..." she started, faltering. Riza tried to soothe her. "I don't know the nature of your relationship with Len... but I... I..."

"Che~! Do whatever the hell you want!" Rin shouted. She bolted out the door and leapt over the side of the stairs.

"Miku!" Riza barked, running after the fleet-footed underclassman. "I know you're going to come anyway, so go now! Right now, while you still have a chance!" Miku nodded, wiping away the tears in her eyes. There was a lot of shouting, a lot of screaming. The din in the yard increased.

One after another, three girls: Rin Kagamine, Riza Sotone, and Miku Hatsune, burst out into the world and disappeared in a garden of naked cherry blossom trees.


	20. Come Out

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 4: The Fourth Day~  
~Scene II~_

* * *

"So, explain to me again," Riza slowly repeated. "Why you're chasing after your brother..."

Henpecked by Riza's smug confidence, Rin grimanced as she uselessly tried to synthesize another convenient topic for them to discuss. It was pointless, but she wasn't going to give Riza the answer she wanted.

"Anyway, why did you come?"

"Ah..." Riza scratched her cheek, wondering that to herself. Rin scowled. The second tag-along, Miku Hatsune, had been one of Len's girls. She was clearly serious about him, coming this far.

"Why _did_ you come?" Rin was curious to know as well.

"Ahah... well, even if you ask me that," Riza scratched her ear next. Miku was eyeing her suspiciously. "Maybe I got caught up in the moment? Like something out of 'I Love You'..."

"A glasses-wearing fujoshi, how pleasant," Miku replied calmly, sipping some of the canned tea she had purchased at the bus station, avoiding Riza's eyes and clutching her beverage with both hands. Riza protested.

While the two of them indulged in a friendly conversation which excluded Rin, she thumbed Len's phone numbly, more worried about what she had to do next. There wasn't a plan she was following at this point. It was too hard to judge what the right course of action was. Would she even get a chance to converse with Luka Megurine?

If recent events were any indication, a climax in her life was drawing near. Outside, the long snaking highways rolled over one another and about buildings and skyscrapers, converging and disentangling wildly.

"Hatsune-san..."

The two girls remembered that Rin was there. Miku smiled warmly. "Yes?"

"Do you," Rin hesitated, "Love Len?"

When she thought about that, Rin wasn't sure if she should hate Miku or feel sorry for her.

"Well, yes. Your brother "

"Stop referring to him as my brother. He's Len."

"Okay then." Miku drank more tea. "Len. He's kind. Accepting. Reliable..."

"I didn't ask why."

"But isn't he, though?"

"He was never like that with me," Rin retorted scornfully.

Miku blinked. "Is that so?"

"Do you know how many other girls Len sees?"

That was really unfair. Even so, Miku had to confront that, if she hadn't already. Was it really possible that she was different from the other girls? Until now, Rin had assumed that it was all mutually casual. But having a chance to speak with one of them, she was starting to question herself.

A little sadly, Miku admitted that she didn't.

"He's never home, Len..." Rin explained. "Ever since we entered high school he's been like that. Maybe since before high school too. Can you," she looked at Miku again, changing her words. "Do you still love him, knowing that?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

"..."

"Can you help it when you love somebody?"

"..."

"I didn't," Miku started crying. "Of course I didn't know. I never suspected, at all, that it would be like this. When Len is with me I just feel so happy. I love him. I really love him a lot. And he's always so gentle with me, so passionate. I remember everything we've ever done together, all of it, and every memory reminds me that I really, really love him!"

"But... why?"

"Because he's lonely!"

Len? Lonely? With all of the company he had, all of the girls, the sex toys, the pleasure, Len Kagamine was still lonely?

"When he's sad, I want to make him happy. When he's crying, I want to make him smile. When he's having a nightmare, I want him to look at me. I'm always trying my hardest, but in the end I'm just... I'm just..."

"I didn't know that he was lonely..." Rin was crying too. "That stupid idiot. He's got you, and Neru and Haku if he wanted, and he's got all of these other girls who can't wait to see him so he can fuck them senseless—" Miku cringed. "—and do it as quickly as possible so he can get to the next one in line! Len! He's the last person anybody should think of as 'lonely!' He's the furthest thing from it. He's so happy, he'd rather be out all day and night screwing his damn toys instead of spending time with his only sister! And you—" Rin bore down on Miku savagely. "—you, who I bet he's fucked so stupid you can't even see how obviously one-sided your relationship is you think Len's 'lonely?' How many times a week do you call him over so you can spread your legs and scream—"

"That's enough!" Riza slapped Rin softly and pulled her away from Miku back into her seat. Miku was sobbing silently into her shirt, clutching her chest. "Don't you realize we're on a public bus?"

It was true enough. Other passengers were staring. The driver fix his rearview mirror so that Rin could see his eyes, and he glared at them reproachfully.

Rin huffed, but folded her arms and kept silent. Riza stroked Miku soothingly and placed the can of tea in a cupholder. "Look, Miku: We'll find him, okay? We'll figure things out and we'll find him and get this mess sorted. And after that we can put all of this behind us, I hope... Miku, stop crying, please?"

"There's nothing to figure out. Len's not in love with you, Miku. Not in the same way you're in love with him..." Rin closed her eyes.

"Actually..." Riza cleared her throat. "I should probably come out with this now. Miku, I'm really sorry, but—" she hugged Miku tightly. "You see, Len and I, we usually meet every Tuesday, at a hotel."

Abruptly, Miku stopped crying. Rin sat there silently, no signals to the outside world about what she was thinking or whether she had even heard. Riza giggled nervously and scratched the back of her hair. She just got so itchy when she was keeping secrets. "I think it's been like that since middle school..." The air was completely dead. Nobody on the bus was talking. Not a single one. The driver had switched off the radio, perhaps finding it too annoying to listen to these three girls talking behind the song.

"Haha... Well, I was planning on telling you eventually... Hah..."


	21. Shampoo

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 4: The Fourth Day~  
~Scene: III~_

* * *

"It's weird how the cicadas are chirping when it's not even summer. Hey, I'm thirsty, pass me some water."

Without getting up, Rin handed Riza and unopened bottle from her pack and closed her eyes. "Why am I even hanging out with you guys?" She could hear the water sloshing around, and listened to Riza's swallowing.

It wasn't as if she hated them for being with her brother. How could she? Of course it was Len's fault, but for reasons not quite dissimilar from theirs, she simply couldn't hold it against him. But there had to be someone she could blame, someone to whom she was justified to unload her frustrations on. What she had said to Miku on the bus had been very improper and cruel, and she regretted it. That was the nature of things. Miku wasn't wrong to have those feelings.

"Just now, you were feeling sorry for yourself, weren't you?"

Untintentionally, Rin's brow rose.

"I know. I've felt like that too. I think Miku's probably going through something like what you've experienced this week. But unlike you and me, Miku isn't the kind of girl to tell you how she's feeling if you don't ask her."

"People like that annoy me..."

"You mean to say, it's really troublesome to the other person, right?"

"..."

"And now you're thinking, 'Len's the bad guy here.'"

Tired of hearing Riza go on and on, Rin sat up. "If you know me so damn well, why don't you answer your own question?"

Riza tilted her head and shrugged. "Sure. Len finally lost control and in a moment of passion the two of you made love."

"..."

"You're pretty sad. I mean, you didn't even notice Len's feelings." Rin stayed quiet. "Yeah, I know, you already thought a lot about it and you realized that you knew all along. But see? That's what I'm saying: You didn't even notice how he felt."

What was the point of going over it again? She was tired of feeling so damn guilty about it. That's why she was here: to fix this! Looking back again was pointless. All it did was bring back negative feelings. Move forward!

"What you're doing right now is running away from the problem." Riza ran her fingers through Miku's beautiful long hair, sighing as she gently untangled some locks here and there. Fast asleep in Riza's lap, her puffy tear swollen eyes stood out from the rest of her elegant features. "Moving on doesn't mean letting go of the past. If you don't leave the past where it belongs, of course it's troublesome. Neither living over or under your shoulder will get you beyond where you're standing right now."

"_So you're saying_, 'Kagamine-chan should be more honest with herself,' is that it?" She mocked Riza's habit of speaking like an auntie.

"Mmm... So-so. That's the gist of it anyhow. I used to be like Miku, once..." She looked down on the sleeping maiden in her arms with great sorrow. "You know, when I was younger, there was a boy I used to like. But because I was so shy and introverted, my feelings went unnoticed, and before I knew it I had graduated and left him behind. That was when I met Len for the first time. The real Len, I mean, not the one I used to idolize in middle school."

"Oh? What was it about him in middle school?" Rin pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin, watching kids at a nearby preschool lounging in a playground.

"A lot of girls in my year were enamored by him. He was pretty handsome then, too."

"They're just shallow."

"He dated all of them."

"I know."

"And let them off easy, too. One by one. Every girl got a pity date. And those girls, even though he broke their hearts they were grateful to him for it. Because of that, I thought he was a really nice guy."

"That's stupid."

"You think so, too, huh?"

They laughed a little. It was so easy, so carefree, just to listen to somebody else talk about someone else's feelings without reminding her of her own.

"So yeah, I never thought I'd see him again. But my first year in high school I got an anonymous letter from your brother asking me to meet him in the place that I was still thinking about. I waited for him all day at the school gates, and I waited for so long that the other kids were starting to make fun of me. I found out later that he had meant my old classroom, but after that he asked me if I still wanted the date I had never asked him for.

"And I thought, right then, that it was so amazing that he had even noticed my feelings at all. I'd never told anybody about them and I always acted normal around him because at first I just didn't want my heart to get broken like those other girls. And you know what he said?"

"Humor me." Rin was smirking a little.

"Your brother, with the manliest expression I've ever seen in a boy's eyes, said to me: 'Even if your heart is smashed to pieces, you just can't help feeling those feelings for another person. No matter what that person does to grow or destroy your feelings, as long as they are your feelings you will feel them.'"

"That's actually kind of cool, for a boy who didn't have enough pubic hairs combined with his twin sibling to make a good luck charm..." Rin yawned and scooted next to Riza, resting her forehead on her seniors' shoulder and closing her eyes.

"You know, Len likes to bite my shoulders..."

Unconcerned, Rin scratched a bit of wax from her ears and snuggled closer. "Of course he does. He bites everyone's shoulders..." And she dozed off.

Riza yawned too. The sleepiness was contagious. For another person's sake she had divulged her secret feelings. Like an unmarried godmother past her golden years.

"But I guess it shouldn't matter too much what happens, now. I knew that I would never be with Len before I gave myself to him. So even if it still sucks, that's just what I signed up for. These two... I don't even envy them at all. A teenage girl's feelings are annoying."

She could smell Rin's shampoo from where she sat. "Banana..."


	22. Bandaged

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 4: The Fourth Day~  
~Scene: IV~_

* * *

However slowly, the night burned on. The night sky was far from dark in the glitzy twinkle of the evening parade. Sundown was a prelude to more brightness than any ecosystem could handle, packed into tight lounges and hotel rooms. In one particular hotel room, the small blond haired second year Rin Kagamine sat still in her school uniform, poring over financial records. A black haired third year, Riza Sotone, sat half-asleep on the large, queen sized bed with the bluish white glow of a television casting moving shadows over her half drawn spectacles.

In the bathroom, third year Miku Hatsune strained her long teal-colored hair of cheap shampoo and sighed as she felt its thickness. And the soap, it left an uneasy film of scum on her skin as it did just half of its job and left her raw, pruny hands to do the rest. She scrubbed purposefully, inch by inch clearing away nearly invisible strings of dead skin and oils bunched together by cheap bubble gum scented soap, exposing beneath them soft, smooth white skin underneath.

The water was, thankfully, very hot, and she allowed herself to stand beneath the shower head's coverage and absorb the head into herself, steam coming off from her shoulders and breasts and being sucked away into the ceiling fan. When she came out, rather red and feeling very tired, half dried and wrapped in a towel, Rin Kagamine stood up from her work and walked past Miku into the bathroom. Neither said a word to the other.

She changed into a store-bought pair of underwear and slipped into one of Rin's shorts. The shorts, which Rin had permitted both her and Riza to wear, were too small, and so for them to effectively cover her she had to leave them unbuttoned. Riza was awake now, sitting in Rin's chair and folding various pages around. Miku glanced at the bathroom door and silently chided Riza for being reckless.

But Riza, as if sensing Miku's negativity, motioned with her finger to come around and have herself a look. Drawing forward, weighted more by curiousity than fear of another outburst from her underclassman, Miku peered over Riza's shoulders.

"..."

The bathroom door opened and Rin stared. Riza and Miku looked back blankly, waiting for a sign. Outside, a fireworks display began in brilliant red, and then blue, and then purple. When no one had spoken for two or three minutes in that fashion, Riza spoke cautiously.

"You and Len... You're not..."

Rin scratched her stomach irately. "Are we still on that? I get it okay? Len's my brother and we can't do it and—"

"—No, see, you're not listening. You and Len, are you sure you share the same last name?"

"Huh?" Rin strode over to the other side of Riza and looked at the papers in her hand.

"Your legal name is Rin Kagamine, right?"

"Yeah, that's on my birth certificate."

"But on a bunch of these pages," Riza murmured, "There's a mysterious third person moving money around your brother's finances."

"Len is the one who always paid our bills. He got the money from my parents."

"What's your mother's last name?"

"Uhh... Mukone."

"See," Riza handed Rin the form in her hand. "Here, and here, and here. Hidari Sorane... Is that a relative or something?"

There it was. Only once did it mention any "Hidari," but interspersed throughout the names of her brother and father was the mysterious surname "Sorane." Riza took the page back and handed Rin another one. It was the same in that case.

"Also," Riza continued. "You say that Len's getting money from your parents. But isn't it the opposite? Look at these transaction records: Instead of Len's account getting money, he's actually giving it. Your parents are the one receiving funds, but this 'Hidari Sorane' is the one putting money into Len's 'Commodities Budget.'"

"What...?"

"This mysterious person is your brother's Len Kagamine's benefactor. Len's been getting huge sums of money regularly every month, and from his main bank account all of the money goes out to other people. How is it that you didn't see this?"

"I was just looking for addresses and phone numbers..."

Riza clicked her tongue, smirking. Miku was rifling through one of the large folders which contained more paperwork. "The name was 'Hidari Sorane,' correct?" Rin and Riza nodded. "If that's so, then why is it that 'Hidari Sorane's' bank records are among these?"

In unison, the two girls gagged in surprise. Riza glared at Rin, expecting an answer. But these papers were the ones which had been in Len's possession. They had been neatly packed away in one of the boxes in his room. She hadn't had time to go over all of them completely.

"Rin," Miku spoke the name very, very softly, trembling. "Are you sure that Len is actually your brother?"

"..."

* * *

Everyone went to bed upset, early in the morning. Tired, cranky, and unsettled by their discovery, nobody spoke another word. Rin didn't shower. She and Riza slept on the floor at both sides of the bed. Originally, Riza and Miku would have shared the mattress, but apparently they had since agreed that they could not be together that night. Riza was already curled up and rolled to face the wall.

Miku sat upright in bed, her big green eyes following Rin as she prepared for bed. Even as Rin shed her clothing in a corner of the room, she felt Miku's eyes shamelessly raking her bare body. It made her a little uncomfortable. She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth, and when she came out Miku was asleep, or she pretended to be asleep anyway. Rin dimmed the lights and found a place at the foot of the bed where she could wrap herself in one of the extra blankets they had requested.

In the silence, she could sort out her chaotic thoughts.

_Len Kagamine_... That was her brother's name. In school, at home, in all of her life he was Len Kagamine. But what about _his_life? Certainly he had plenty of time to live out that second life he lived with women. But was it possible that that life was more real than the childhood he had spent with Rin?

What was her first memory of Len? She started late, but kept remembering more and more things. As she went further back, she trusted her memory less and less. In the back of her mind, a once useless piece of information read itself out: Consciously retained memory generally occurs _after_ the age of four.

She couldn't even remember how old she was in the first memory she had come across, much less the ones that came before. Was it really Len she was remembering? Maybe she was mixing things up and creating some things out of nothing. If Len wasn't her brother, that made it okay, right? But if that was the case, then why did he try so hard to keep his distance from her?

Those feelings they had had as children, that youthful sibling affection, would always be there. Now that she was older, she didn't need the older brother so much. She was happy with the man, Len Kagamine.

"_Hah_~" It was a soft, quiet gasp for breath. So soft, she realized, that it was only in absolute silence that anyone would hear it. Conspicuous, irregular breathing. She shut her eyes. Would Miku or Riza understand what was going on? Then it was a soft squeak. The bed creaked as Miku rolled over. The sound of Riza's sheets rustling against the carpet.

For a long time, that heavy, heated breathing would continue. Not a word would be spoken about it now, or ever.


	23. Roundabout

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 5: The Fifth Day~  
~Scene: I~_

* * *

"So... what are we doing in here again?" Riza tilted her glasses up and down as she looked around.

It was a perfectly ordinary cellular phone store not far from the hotel they had all roomed at the night before. The shop's visage was simple and frugal. Iron shop racks encased in sliding glass composed the criss crossing aisles. A large glass display lined a corner of the store, complete with a cash register and a customer service bell. Rin rang it twice and turned to her companion.

"Aren't you supposed to be cunningly perceptive?"

"Am I really?" Riza grinned mischievously. "Well, explain it to me anyway."

"Come on. I explained it to you on the bus, remember? I had Len's phone when I'd been calling it, but it didn't ring. Even though the number Hatsune-san—"

"—You can call me Miku." The teal haired girl interrupted.

"Even though Miku's calls didn't go through to Len's other phone, my number worked. That means he took his card out of the phone."

"Yeah, I got that, but I still don't know why we're here." Riza browsed the shelves idly, looking bored.

"Nobody is making you come with me."

"Okay, I'll just see what happens then."

"Do whatever you want."

The store keeper came out then, a short woman with red hair and twin pigtails. She recognized Rin at once and greeted her.

"It's been a really long time, Teto Kasane-chan."

"Un... It has. Did you come here for a new phone?"

"No," she replied, showing Teto that she still had her old phone. They laughed. "Actually, I came here about nii-san. Have you seen him lately?"

Teto hesitated. "He usually pays his bills remotely, so no, I can't say I have. Is something wrong?"

"That good-for-nothing ran away from home." Riza strolled up to the counter and smiled. "My name is Riza Sotone. You can just call me Riza."

Teto looked from Riza, to Miku, to Rin. "Are these friends of yours?"

Rin nodded. "She's just tagging along. If you haven't seen nii-san, can I ask a favor of you?"

"Of course. It depends what you're asking, though." Teto took Len's smattered phone and examined it thoughtfully. "What happened here?"

"I broke it..." Rin admitted, blushing embarrassedly as Riza fired a discerning glance in her direction. "Anyway, the data card was removed so I can only browse the contact numbers and not the names. I was hoping there was a way you could recover that information for me."

"Ah..." Teto looked over her shoulder, blinking. Riza looked too. She quickly returned to the phone. "I'm not supposed to, unless you're the owner of the phone."

"Oh..." Rin folded her arms and shifted her weight.

"What are you planning to do with that information? Are you looking for Len?" As Teto said the name of Rin's brother, Riza looked back at her.

"Something like that, yeah. I think I might stand a better chance of finding him if I get a certain person's number."

"Hmm..." Teto scratched her cheek. "Well... because I know that you're his brother, and because I owe Len some favors, I guess I could do it for you. But just this once, okay? And no promises."

"That's fine. Anyway I'm just covering all of the bases." Rin produced her wallet from her backpack.

"Oh, don't worry about the payment," Teto shook her head, chuckling. "This is considered obligatory technical support, so it's free. As long as you're not replacing the phone..." She looked inquisitively at Rin, who shook her head. "Come back in a few hours. I'll have it done by four."

"What if we're busy then?"

"I can normally only hold it for twenty-four hours, but for you, just pick it up when you have time."

"I wasn't saying that we won't come back by four," Rin explained. "I'm just not exactly sure what's gonna happen today, that's all."

"Okay, sweetie." Teto scruffed up Rin's hair. "You've grown. You're not as cute as you used to be." Riza laughed. "But you're more beautiful now. Len's lucky to have you."

Rin blushed again, fidgeting nervously. "Nii-san doesn't seem to think so. Well, nevermind. Thank you very much, Kasane-chan."

"Hmm. No good, no good." Teto chanted as Rin and Miku bowed. "Call me 'obaa-san.' I always wanted to have a little sister, but a niece is fine too!"

"I'm not gonna call you that." Rin waved. Together, the three girls exited the store as Teto blew a raspberry. Miku was in a cheery mood.

"She seems nice."

"She is. That's where I got my phone." A dreamy expression crossed Rin's face. Miku tugged Rin's shoulder. "What is it?" They turned around.

Riza was still standing by the shop, alternately look at the sign, and then across the street. She looked to Rin and Miku, standing a short distance away, and said, "There's something I have to be doing. Can I leave you two alone for a while?"

"Sure," Rin shrugged. She and Miku shared a scrutinous stare. Riza nodded and waved goodbye, trotting in the opposite direction and cutting into an alley. Together, they exchanged glances.

"So, what's next?" Miku asked.

Rin thought about it for a moment. "Let's go back to the hotel. I wanna stop by the bank and see if I can figure anything out. Then we'll come back here and get the phone, if we have time."

"Okay."

As they rounded the next corner, going back the way they had come, Riza walked out from a different alley and crossed back into the store.


	24. Fence

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 5: The Fifth Day~  
~Scene: II~_

* * *

When they entered the bank they were met by a beautiful woman in kimono who asked them their names and the purpose of their business. At the name "Kagamine," the woman's face lit up, and without any other questions led both of them to an isolated lobby, where she left them, asking them to wait patiently to be seen.

The lobby itself was heavily decorated with flamboyant paintings of beautiful birds in a scratchy lavender hue. Luxuriously framed canvases were aesthetically tipped in a dark, brassy gold and soft black lines provided aberrant outlines. Testament to the mirage-like vegetation in the backgrounds, large exotic plants stood and hung and clung to the room from various angles. There wasn't any place for seating. Then a man dressed similarly in hakama entered the room from another door and kowtowed respectfully before addressing his guests.

"Kagamine-sama, Hatsune-sama. Welcome. We were not expecting you today."

"Is this what they consider standard customer treatment at banks these days?" Miku asked incredulously.

The man smiled. "Only privileged shareholders are taken where I am about to take you, Kagamine-sama. Unfortunately, your acquaintance will not be permitted beyond this room. Do you still wish to proceed?"

Rin looked back at Miku, who nodded. "Go find out what you need to know," she said. "I'll wait for you back at the hotel." The woman from earlier returned immediately to escort Miku out of the room. They were alone again. The man smiled again.

"From here on, everything we say will be held in the utmost secrecy. Beyond this room you may conduct your business freely. I must inform you," he emphasized, seeing that Rin was itching to interrupt. "Although you are not a shareholder, we have been instructed to grant you the same privileges as that of your elder sibling, Len Kagamine-sama."

"Does this mean that my brother owns part of this bank?"

"3.13%, to be more precise. My name is Hiyama Kiyoteru. I am the mediator who has been assigned by the company to assist you in your financial affairs concerning our company. If you will follow me, we can discuss what business you have with us, today."

They went through the door he had opened, shutting it firmly behind them. Hushed whispers transpired in the office-like hallway they found themselves in. Rin struggled to keep up with Hiyama's long paces. He noticed this quickly and slowed down for her. "Is there a particular reason you have come by, Kagamine-sama?"

"I have some questions to ask about my older brother," Rin answered in her softest voice. "Also, please address me with familiarity."

"That is acceptable. As you wish, Kagamine... chan?" Rin didn't make comment, and so Hiyama presumed that it was just fine. He led her into an empty cubicle with enough seating for three persons, and they placed themselves opposite one another where, from the folds of his hakama, Hiyama removed a small computer and opened it out on the table, typing steadily.

"Can I see my brother's transaction records?"

"Up to five years."

"Can you show me the activity of all of his accounts in the last five days?" He called it up on his monitor and slid it to Rin so that she could review it. As she had hoped, money was being moved around. "What are all of these?" she inquired, pointing as Hiyama came around to look at what she meant.

"These are mostly automated transactions which Kagamine-sama has set up to some of his other accounts, one of which is yours and another being that of your father."

"And this?" She indicated a deposit log of a ridiculously large sum of money.

"That is..." Hiyama explained to Rin what she already knew.

"Actually," Rin started, clearing her throat as she passed the computer back to him. "The question I have today isn't about Len Kagamine, but this person, 'Hidari Sorane.'"

The typing stopped. Hiyama was very still. He looked at Rin sternly and resumed typing on his computer. "We cannot disclose information concerning unrelated accounts which do or do not exist," he explained softly. It all sounded very rehearsed, Rin noted.

"The account exists," Rin insisted, opening her backpack and unloading the folders full of files. "These are all statements under the name 'Hidari Sorane' which were in my house. They were in my older brother's room." She offered Hiyama a folder, which he took and proceeded to glance quickly through, though only at the top where he could confirm the most basic identifying information.

"I'd prefer it if you return them when you're done." Rin folded her hands calmly. "They're only photocopies. The original statements are somewhere else. But they weren't cheap to make, so it would be nice if you didn't keep them."

"You're prepared," Hiyama muttered. "Do you understand the implications involved in possessing these documents?"

"Not completely. I'm not here to steal money. I'm looking for my brother."

"It is not our business to conduct investigations in personal matters."

"I know. All I want to find out is who this 'Hidari Sorane' is."

"As I have said, we are not permitted to disclose—"

"—If this person was related to me, that would entitle me even a little to his personal information, wouldn't it?" Hiyama was starting to sweat. "If Len Kagamine was 'Hidari Sorane' then that would mean that I, Rin Kagamine, sibling of Len Kagamine, am also entitled to 'Hidari Sorane's' bank account. Or am I excluded?"

Hiyama remained silent.

"So, Len Kagamine and Hidari Sorane are the same person... right?"

"Alas, young lady, you are correct..." Hiyama wiped his brow and sighed. "By my own incompetence, I did not exclude you from Sorane-sama's primary account..."

"_Answer me_."

"Yes, child. Your brother, Len Kagamine and the person known as Hidari Sorane are in fact one and the same."

"What can you tell me about Hidari Sorane?"

"Sorane-sama owns 20% of this company. He is also said to be the son of the founder and acting President of the bank which bears his name: MASTER. More than that I cannot say, simply because I do not know. I apologize."

"This 'MASTER' person..." Rin squinted. "Will I be able to contact him?"

"I cannot help you, in that regard. MASTER is an anonymous figure. I'm not even sure if it's one specific person. Of what I do know, I am under orders of nondisclosure. You have, I believe, exhausted the resources you have here."

"That's fine, then." Rin closed her eyes. Her head throbbed.

Hiyama offered her tea, seeing that she was distressed. But she declined his offer and told him that she didn't have any other business. He escorted her outside, and she saw that it had already become dark. Asking Hiyama for the time, she found that it was already after six. They had been talking for over three hours.

If she went back to the hotel to get Miku and Riza before going to pick up Len's phone from Teto it would be too late. It was a Sunday and the shop closed in an hour. She bade an eager farewell to Hiyama and left for that destination.


	25. Silhouette

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 5: The Fifth Day~  
~Scene: III~_

* * *

The windows of the shop were dark. The faintly lit hallway leading into a back room provided the only lighting in that venue. The OPEN sign was off, too. But it was only Rin checked fifteen minutes to seven. Alright, so it wasn't unreasonable to consider closing early on a slow day. But the shop closed early enough as it was, and Rin didn't think it was doing all that badly. Was Teto really the kind of person to go home early on the promise of holding an item for someone?

Maybe out of hopefulness or more likely out of desperation, Rin tried the door. It opened. For a split second she anticipated there to be an alarm, and yet there was none. She looked around: Although the street was busy, nobody was paying any particular attention to her. She needed that contact list, badly. It was important that she find Len as soon as possible. Caution nothing more than ash in the wind, she stepped inside quietly and listened, closing the door gently behind her. It was silent. The ventilation system hummed in the background.

She took a tentative step forward. Then another. And another. And slowly made her way to the counter. Now she could hear whispers. Voices, actually, but they were muffled. It was coming from the hall in the back. So there was someone here, after all.

She couldn't make out what they were saying, so she edged slowly behind the counter and ducked behind the corner. Louder, but not quite enough. She stood full in the hallway and strained her ears.

"...running out of time. I don't know what to do anymore."

That was Teto. She took another step forward.

"If you had just explained this to me from the start we might have figured something out by now."

She didn't know whom that voice belonged to, but it was female. Teto answered the other woman's accusation. "What could you possibly do that I haven't already tried?"

"A lot more than you, if you keep thinking that way."

"You've witnessed the messages. I really think he's in over his head, this time. He trusts her too much."

"I believe you. Now that I know all of that, I definitely believe you."

"You're not going to tell them, are you?"

"Not them... _Her_."

"And what if you mess up?"

"I'll settle for a guaranteed one percent than gambling on a fifty-fifty shot."

"You're five years too young to talk like that."

"Just follow through on your promise. Tomorrow is fine. I need to think about this some more."

"That's reassuring..."

"Congratulations, you just learned how to use sarcasm."

"It wasn't sarcasm."

"I'm not being sarcastic..." It was quiet again. The door creaked. Rin froze.

But it was a different door than any of those in the hall. She could faintly hear the wind blowing. Teto's voice filled the halls again.

"Is there any point to having her along?"

"...not really. I can already tell how this is going to end..."

A long, long silence. Rin wondered how long they were going to keep the door open. The stranger's voice, once more.

"It's the only shot we have. I know the type. I used to be like that, once. You just need to trust me."

"And if it turns out you're wrong?"

"Did you stop to think about right or wrong? Don't answer that, I already know."

The door closed as Teto was about to say something else. Rin heard her cursing, sitting down in a chair, which groaned something she only knew who it was Teto had been talking to... or if they had mentioned any names... It seemed too cliche. She pondered the possible outcomes, filling in the blanks, and then realized that there was only one which was was capable of wrapping her head around.

If this was about Len, then Teto was also searching for him. The promise was obvious: Len's phone. Or was it? It was also plausible that this was a different matter entirely. Maybe Teto was involved in something bad. And that wasn't her concern right now. Something shook in her pocket. _DAMN!_

It was her phone! She had forgotten to turn it off, or at least silence it. Any second now, it would start ringing. It would vibrate two or three times first, but then it would alert Teto that someone who wasn't supposed to be in the store had heard everything. And there wasn't time to pull it out and stop it either.

Thinking more slowly than her body, she was already scrambling out the door and reaching for her phone at the same time on the gamble that she would be lucky and hit the right button at the exact same time.

Luck was indeed with her. But in the adrenaline rush, she had gotten careless and swung the door too quickly. It made a little tapping sound as it shut. The lights of the store turned on. She ran to the corner of the store and answered her call, breathless.

"Kagamine, speaking."

"Whoa, Rin, you sound like you've been running. You alright?" It was Riza.

"Yeah," she swallowed in some air, seeing a shadow behind her. The door opened. She acted as though she wasn't tired at all, nor that she could feel Teto's wary eyes behind her. She made a point of saying Riza's name loudly. "Sotone, I'm at the phone store."

"Oh. Did you just get there? Where were you?"

"Miku and I went to the bank. You mean you haven't gone back to the hotel yet? She went home before I did."

"No... Actually, I'm in the hotel right now. Miku's not here."

"But she said," Rin was a little surprised. "Anyway, the store is closed already, so I'll just go back now."

"Okay. Hey, I'll give Miku a call, alright?"

"Yeah, thanks. I'll see you later, Sotone." She hung up. Then she waited.

"Rin?" Teto called. They faced each other. Rin feigned a look of pleasant surprise. "Oh, good, it's you."

"Hey! I thought you were closed so I was gonna go home."

"Oh, sorry about that. I thought you weren't coming so I started cleaning up the shop." Eyes still wary, Teto invited Rin inside and commented on how cold it was to be out at night. "You weren't standing out there for too long, were you? I left the door unlocked."

Mustering up the courage to meet Teto's gaze, Rin lied. Teto decided that it couldn't be helped and asked Rin to wait while she printed out the list.

"I can't give you a working phone, but I was able to retrieve all of the personal data. Come on into the back. The store's closing now so I don't mind."

Rin felt uneasy as, for the second time, she walked past the counter and entered the hall. She thought about everything she'd heard, wondered what she'd missed. Teto opened the door to her office and let Rin in. It was nothing more than an office. There was a calendar and a clock and a dry erase board hung on the back of the door. On a quaint tv monitor she could see where the security cameras were pointed. To her great shock, she saw that the hallway, the front counter, and the storefront, were all viewable within a decent radius that it was impossible for her to have not been recorded.

But if Teto had seen anything, she acted as though she hadn't. A printer buzzed to life and spewed out several pages of raw text. Teto scanned them to make sure everything was correct, and then handed the little stack and Len's phone, in a zip bag, to Rin.

"Well, have a good night, sweetie." She smiled warmly. Rin heard again her panic stricken, desperate voice. Exiting the store, she couldn't help but feel that Teto was watching her back through the little black tinted orb which she had only now noticed for the first time mounted in the archway over the door.

"..."

"...I found you..."


	26. Day Dream

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 5: The Fifth Day~  
~Scene: IV~_

* * *

It had painstakingly crafted onto the shallow surface. Little white strands clung together and formed an elaborate pattern. Even though it was supposed to be a snowflake, to Rin the foam resembled a spider web. She stuck a plastic stirrer into her drink and destroyed it.

"When I found out that you stopped going to school, I checked your house."

_Don't care..._

"Jesus, Rin, I almost called the cops. I thought someone broke in and took you."

_Really don't care..._

"Look, just go home. I'm looking for Len right now. I'll find him."

"I can't do that." Rin took a swig of her espresso and glared bluntly at Neru Akita. "And stop acting like we're good friends."

"Damn it, Kagamine, can't you just let go of whatever we said before?"

"We?" Rin laughed. "I hardly said a word. You did all the talking. And choking."

"..."

"Look, Neru, I get it. You want to find Len. Well, so do I. I'm worried about him too. I'm not going to stop you, but don't get in my way. I have the right to try to find him. He's my brother."

"Sisters don't have sex with their brothers..." Neru drummed the table impatiently. "You don't know anything."

"That's my line. And you're not going to change my mind." So she knew about that. Well, it wasn't as if it mattered very much now.

"I could just call the cops right now. You could be arrested for truancy."

Rin tiled her chin up and showed Neru her collarbone. There were still bruises from where Neru had assaulted her. "Just try me," she growled.

Neru stood up and dropped a large bill on the counter, leaving her untouched mochiatto where the server had put it, then marched out the door and got in her car and drove. Rin didn't follow her. That stupid Neru, what did she think she would accomplish by following her? In any even, whatever Neru had been planning had clearly backfired.

The idea of Neru Akita knowing more than she, Rin Kagamine, now knew herself was wholly laughable. Rin knew more than anybody else. That was because she had been Len's sister, once. Nothing would ever take away the fact that she would always have been, was, and always would be.

And now she could have more. Len loved her. As a brother, definitely. But also as a man. If he didn't, then she wouldn't be trying so hard to reach him. And maybe she didn't entirely understand Len's feelings, either. But they could work that out together. It didn't have to be now. It didn't even have to be, as long as she could be with him again.

That, in itself, would be enough.

It was with that motivation that she pulled out the list of contacts in Len's phone and searched for a name, then the number, and dialed it.

It rang. CLICK! "Hello?" A sleepy male voice answered.

"..."

"Hello...? Is this a prank call?" In the background, "Baby, come back to bed."

CLICK! He hung up. Rin closed her eyes. "Since when was Neru allowed to drive?"

* * *

When she entered the room she expected to see Riza waiting for her, Miku asleep on the bed. But it was only Miku changing into her pajamas while watching television. At the sound of Rin's bag falling to the floor Miku saw her and smiled.

"Oh, Rin, you're here."

"Where's Riza?" Rin went to the toilet but left the door open.

"She went home." Miku yawned. "Her parents are getting mad."

"What about your parents?" Rin asked as she came out changed for bed. Miku sat in bed gnawing on a spring onion. "Aren't they worried too?"

"Nah... My dad, he's always drunk..." She snapped the stick in half and offered the unchewed end to Rin. "Negi?"

"N-no thanks." Miku shrugged and ate the rest herself, curling up in the blankets and yawning again, loudly. Rin turned off the lights and left the television on to illuminate the room with a dim blue flashing. She listened to the recorded laughter. It was a competition among three men to identify their mothers through a series of borderline perverse trials.

Someone's phone buzzed. Rin got up off the floor and checked hers. Nothing. But Miku's phone, shaking on the matress, fell to the floor. Rin knelt down to read the text message Riza had sent Miku.

8-13-1 GINZA CHOUO-KU, TOKYO 104-0061. RM 327L. STALL KAGAMINE.

"Hey, Kagamine-chan...?"

Rin crawled back into bed with the din of the television to cover the sound of her movements. She was glad she had decided to leave it on.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sleeping...?"

"Yeah... I'm talking in my sleep."

"Will you sleep next to me tonight?"

"No... That's creepy." Rin sat up. Miku was staring at the ceiling. "Anyway, why would you want to do that?"

"It's because you remind me of Len..."

She didn't quite get it yet herself. Somehow she could sense what Miku was trying to convey. _Let this be the last time_, she wanted to say. _Just one last time, let me fall asleep in his arms._ Without knowing why, and without having a rational or logical reason, Rin got up and crawled next to Miku, embracing her and tucking Miku's head against her chest.

"I love you," Miku whispered, closing her eyes and nuzzling Rin affectionately.

And Rin, with all sincerity and meaning, replied, "I love you, too..."

She didn't know if Miku could understand that those words weren't coming from Len. They were Rin's words, and Rin's feelings, and Rin's love. And they belonged to Miku. Not for any real reason at all. Just because Miku was somebody Rin loved. If Miku didn't understand that now, or ever, it didn't matter. Just for tonight, she would be honest with herself.

"Rin...?"

"Yeah?" She was relieved that Miku had finally used her first name.

"Will you give me back my phone?"

"Yeah..."


	27. Reprieve

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 6: The Sixth Day~  
~Scene: I~_

* * *

_It's so bright. It feels like I'm hung over. I didn't drink last night... did I? Oh... but it's really warm. Like this... I want to stay like this forever. I won't let go of you. Ever. So don't wake up. Let me go back to sleep, and don't wake up. Stay here, in my arms..._

* * *

"..."

It was already late in the day. Judging from the angle of the sun, it was probably almost noon. The room was quiet. And clean. Except for the bed, which had been left rumpled. Everything had been cleaned. Her bag sat on top of a bedside table where she hadn't left it. Only her bag. The floor was clean. Nobody was around.

Rin ran her hand over the depression where Miku's head had been, heaving a heavy breath longingly. The smell of shampoo, perfume, and leeks, still lingered. It was strongest on her shirt, where Rin remembered Miku had rested her head for the entire night. With a numb arm, dulled poor circulation from leaning heavily on it, she brought her shirt to her face and inhaled.

"Miku..."

Rin got out of bed alone. She showered and changed alone. She fixed the bed alone. She packed her things alone. She checked out of the hotel alone. And she walked out into the city alone.

* * *

"Will this be all then, Miss?"

"Yes." She bowed politely. "Thank you, kindly."

"Have a pleasant day."

Rin sat on the bench in the lobby and leafed through pages and pages of records...

**Hidari Sorane was anonymously adopted in the summer of 1993. At the time of his adoption, he was approximated to be the age of three. His body showed severe signs of childhood malnutrition.**

**Physically retarded as a result, Hidari experienced a two year period of physical rehabilitation. In 1995, over the course of eight months, he underwent multiple surgeries to correct many of his physical deformities.**

**At a young age, Hidari showed great academic inclination. His rapidly advancing intelligence carried him through many top class educational institutions. At age six, still recovering from surgery, Hidari Sorane achieved the government equivalent of a high school education.**

**Throughout his observed childhood, Hidari constantly displayed isolationist tendencies. His gift for intelligence coupled with his introverted nature earned him the constant bullying of his academic peers. The duration of his pre-surgery rehabilitation was delayed for this reason.**

**In the winter of 1998, Hidari Sorane legally changed his name to Len Kagamine.**

* * *

It was a quiet afternoon at Jishu Shrine. From the end of the narrow lane, Rin Kagamine walked the length of the stalls squat down next to a stone set into the ground.

_"You can't."_

_"Yes! I can!"_

_"They won't let us."_

_"Why not?"_

_Rin puffed her face angrily. Her brother, Len, laughed. "Cause we're sisters, baka-nee~"_

_"Oh yeah?" Rin waved her love fortune in Len's face. "We're supposed to get married! See? It says so right here, nii-san!"_

_"It's someone else, someone else." He poked her jokingly on the forehead and laughed. Rin ran all the way up the steps and shouted,_

_"If you can walk from one love stone to the other blindfolded then you can realize your true love!" As Len followed her up the stairs to, Rin pulled her shirt over her eyes and stumbled forward. "Watch me, nii-san! I'm going to marry you when we grow up!"_

_"Stupid," Len chided her. "It doesn't say anything about blindfolds."_

Rin smiled as she remembered that. She was eight years old then. How old was Len? They were supposed to be twins, but now she wasn't quite sure. Closing her eyes, she tapped the first stone and stood up and moved her right leg forward.

_"More to the left," Len called encouragingly. "That's your right, silly!"_

_"Shut up, nii-san! If you help me then it won't be as easy!"_

_"Ah~ You passed it! Go back!"_

_"S-shut up!" She moved her left leg forward unsteadily, waving her hands in front of her as she stooped lower and lower._

_"It's to your left, Rin! Your left!" Rin turned to the right and tripped over the second stone. Getting back up, she lowered her shirt over her exposed stomach and point at Len antagonistically._

_"Y-you liar! You just don't want to marry me!"_

_Len laughed and ran back down the steps, sticking his tongue out at his as she gave chase._

"Back then, I think you were smiling just like this." Rin touched the second stone and opened her eyes. She tried to frown, tried to make a straight face, stuck her tongue out and even pinched herself. "It's no good... I can't stop smiling."

The mixed taste on her tongue which curled the corners of her mouth just slightly to her eyes... had to have been the same bitter relief that Len might have felt to think that maybe, just maybe he really could spend the rest of his life with her.

It was warm and cold at the same time. It was sweet and bitter all at once. Happiness and sadness blended into a uniform solidarity deep in her heart. Without doubt it was unlike anything she had ever experienced.

"Love is something that everyone makes great sacrifices for. But the nature of love is that it has no equivalent form in any other state of existence. It costs nothing: It is free. The price you pay is irrelevant if it's love you're after."

Rin didn't know where the voice had come from, or to whom it belonged. But when she heard those soft, unjudging words, she felt the weight on her heart grow a little heavier...

...and welcomed it.


	28. Pianissimo

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 6: The Sixth Day~  
~Scene: II~_

* * *

"Hello, Rin. It's been a long time since you've called me. Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine, dad. Just fine."

"Oh, that's good, then. How is school? Are you getting along with everyone okay?"

"Un... I've been making some new friends lately. And I think I'm getting closer to some old friends, too."

"Good, good... You're keeping up with your work then?"

"Yes, dad."

"And you're taking a shower every night?"

"Yes, dad."

"Now, don't get annoyed if I ask that. You never liked taking showers when you were a child."

"Stop worrying, dad. I'm not that child anymore."

"I'll bet you have a boyfriend by now. Am I going to like him?"

"No boyfriend, dad."

"Not even a fiance?"

"T-that's supposed to be worse, isn't it?"

"Well, you're getting to that age."

"Dad, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Your brother. He gets a lot of mail from girls. I can't believe he would give them our address."

"That's how he is."

"By the way, where is your brother? I haven't heard from him in a while."

"Oh. Hidari-kun is sleeping..."

"..."

"What's wrong dad? Are you there?"

"Who is 'Hidari-kun'...?"

"That's my brother's name, isn't it?"

"No. It's not. Your brother's name is 'Len.'"

"But it used to be Hidari."

"Where did you hear a thing like that?"

"The Office of Vital Records."

"You're in Chiyoda?"

"Uh-huh..."

"And where's Len?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you 'don't know?'"

"I don't know where my brother is."

"I thought you said he was sleeping?"

"I thought you said 'Hidari-kun' isn't Len? Dad?"

"..."

"I know you're still there."

"..."

"..."

"Did Len tell you...?"

"No."

"Then how did you find out?"

"I did some research."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to know if Len—Hidari—is actually my brother."

"Why would you doubt that in the first place?"

"Because I love Hidari."

"You _what_...?"

"I love him."

"..."

"As a woman."

"That won't work."

"Why?"

"Because he's your brother."

"But he's adopted."

"He's still your brother."

"But not by blood, dad."

"He's your brother!"

"We're not really related."

"Yes! You are!"

"How?"

"He's your twin brother, Rin! Your twin brother!"

"..."

"Len was..."

* * *

Rin and Len were nothing short of a miracle. Rin's mother had certain circumstances which rendered her essentially infertile, but the eggs were there. They had never planned on having two children, but they were more than happy when they had discovered the exciting development.

When they had been born, she had been named Rin, because her mother held her in her right arm. Her brother had been named Len for being in the left. The experience of cradling her own newborn children had had such an impact on Kaede that she inexorably intended to remember that moment forever.

Together, Rin and Len had enjoyed their infant-hood. Their first words had been the other sibling's names. It was a happy family, an ideal family. Then, on September 27th, 1991, typhoon Mireille hit. The Kagamine family had been smack dab in the middle of the distaster. Rin's mother was unwell. Her father left the two of them, Rin and Len, in the care of an acquaintance whose husband had died in the flood and left her the single mother of an adolescent daughter.

When he had returned the mother was dead, had killed herself. Nobody had any inkling that she would snap. Her daughter was gone. And so was Len. Only Rin was alone in the makeshift nursery, bawling her eyes out.

After that, the family was never quite the same. They'd never been able to find Len, nor could they locate the mother's daughter. Defeated with the loss of one of the only two children she believed she would ever have, Rin's mother sank into depression and began to neglect her remaining offspring.

Rin was diagnosed as severely depressed. Without the company of her brother or the love and presence of a mother, she stopped eating. It was only in a hospital, through an IV tube, which she could recieve the bare nourishment necessary to keep her alive. But she still wouldn't eat, and intravenous feeding would only have so much of an effect. Rin was slowly killing herself.

It was then, at that hospital, that her father had met Hidari Sorane. He had been shocked, to say the least, to see the male equivalent of his daughter roaming the hospital halls. Meeting with Hidari's parents, he discovered that the boy was not truly their son, and realized that Hidari was the brother Rin had lost.

The family refused to return Hidari. It had been a legal adoption. Hidari was to be the heir to their fortunes. They had no other substitute.

But Hidari was of a different opinion. When he saw Rin comatose while going through his rehabilitation exercises, he wanted strongly to help her recover. Through his persistence, it was agreed that Hidari could return to his family. But he would still be the inheritor of the Sorane fortune, and he would still legally be their child. It would not be disputed in court.

And so, Hidari Sorane became Len Kagamine. He put his adoptive family, who had saved him and helped him heal and educated him, aside. With much help from both families, he and Rin recovered from their individual inflictions together.

* * *

"Hidari Sorane was the best thing that has ever happened to this family. He saved you. He saved your mother. And he's ours. Our child. Your brother."

"I have already expressed my feelings to Len..."

"That's why I'm now very ashamed of you, Rin."

Not once did her father's voice tremble. Never did he cry. There were no indications whatsoever that he was upset. But she could feel the sorrow in his words, in the directness of his tone. And, deep inside, she could feel that sorrow too.

"Goodbye, father."

"Yes. I suppose so."

"We'll talk again."

"I suppose we will." He hung up.

Sitting alone in a train bound for Ginza, Rin cried. Too many tears. She was amazed she could still cry. The train stopped, the doors opened, and a recorded voice announced that they had arrived at their destination. Rin walked onto the station platform and pressed her hand against a pillar and closed her eyes.

"This is the first rock."

First she moved her right foot. Then her left.


	29. Reminisce

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 6: The Sixth Day~  
~Scene: III~_

* * *

**Summer, 1995...**

"Ruby lips above the water, blowing bubbles, soft and fine. But, alas, I was no swimmer, so I lost my Clementine~" Rin giggled happily and sang, holding her brother's hand as she skip-walked them around the hospital garden. "Oh my darling! Oh my darling! Oh my darling, Clementine! Thou art lost and gone forever~"

It was picturesque; a scene that anyone would appreciate. In this place of pain and suffering, two children brought smiles to the faces of other patients their glowing laughter and light yellow hair lighting the furthest corners concealed behind open windows.

Rin never sang the next verse. She liked the way her brother sang it. In his weak and patchy voice he intoned, "How I missed her! How I missed her! How I missed my Clementine! But I—" Rin squealed and leaned forward so that Len could kiss her on the cheek. "—my little sister. I forgot my Clementine."

And together they wailed, "Oh my darling! Oh my darling! Oh my darling, Clementine! Thou art lost and gone forever. Dreadful sorry, Clementine."

The onlookers elderly patients, nurses, other adults, even older children clapped. Oblivious, Rin hummed loudly the melody and danced with Len. That is, she had him stand perfectly while she held his hands and swayed left and right, kicking her feet eagerly. Everyone was laughing. It was great fun.

And then, suddenly, it wasn't. Rin spun away, dizzy, and her knees buckled as she came to the ground. Len panicked and hobbled to her side.

"Rin-chan! Don't overdo it!"

"Poor Clementine..." She yawned sleepily and closed her eyes and dozed immediately. Len watched as one nurse picked Rin up into her arms, and sat down when another brought his wheelchair to him. He followed Rin to her room and helped the nurse tuck her in. Rin opened one eye and tried to smile.

"Ne~... Nii-san, I wanna dance more..."

"Yes. Okay. Sleep first, Rin-chan. Then we can dance more."

"But I don't wanna sleep~... Nii-san..."

"What?" He ruffled her hair between his fingers. She cuddled his palm. "You always say that, but then you sleep and sleep and sleep that I start thinking you'll never wake up."

"I'm sorry, Nii-san..."

"For what?"

"For being sick. You must get really bored taking care of me..."

He hugged her and pinched her arm. She cringed in pain, little tears building up in her eyes. The nurse scolded Len. "That's for thinking that I get bored when we're together," he told her, smiling. Rin blushed and pulled the blanket over her eyes.

"Nii-san...! Nii-san...!"

"Yes, Rin-chan?"

"Forget Clementine! Forget her!"

He sighed and kissed her forehead. She was already fast asleep. Len took her hand in his and squeezed it. It was quieter with Rin asleep. Before, he recalled, it was only quieter when she was awake. She still had nightmares once in a while. Some mornings they would come to find she had wet the bet. Going for a week without her waking up screaming, and disturbing the other patrons, was considered rarity.

This girl—his sister—was the best person to which he could ascribe the word "family." That was something he hadn't had in his old life. _Lives_. Growing up on the streets was hard. Getting pampered was lonely. And through it all there wasn't anybody whom he could think of even remotely as "family." When he thought about that, his heart beat a little faster. This was the thing they called "love," right? He wanted to ask, but didn't want to get laughed at. It was a ridiculous, because who _wouldn't_ love their own sister?

Rin kicked her legs out and smacked her lips, groaning sleepily.

"Silly nee-chan," he chuckled. "There is no Clementine..."


	30. Allegro

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Act 6: The Sixth Day~  
~Scene: IV~_

* * *

She never expected to find him. She simply let her feet take her wherever she felt like going. Devoid of direction. With Riza and Miku gone, Rin suddenly realized how much she had started to depend on them for support. It was a little humiliating, too, but still very authentic. They were friends now, comrades.

Well, they were Rin's friends anyway. She didn't know if they could reciprocate the feeling. She hoped they would. It was understandable if the differences between Miku and herself were without resolution, though it would make less sense if Riza could not find it in herself to maintain their friendship.

She was somewhere between the first love rock and the second. But unlike the Jishu Shrine, she had no clue where it was. It was a different kind of blindness, a maddening kind of blindness, where no amount of groping could help one find their way around. It was no more hopeful to try and open her eyes either.

Eyes were decieving. Maybe if she really closed them and wandered around aimlessly, she would realize it. That. True love. Whatever that was. Because in lacking it she was dead. Up until recently things were just fine the way they were. But maybe it had been like one of those metaphorphoses. No longer a caterpillar, but a...

What? Still a cocoon, or a butterfly? And what kind of butterfly? Even poisonous kings are still kings. And when it came to cannibalism there was always Darwin.

She missed her brother. Actually, that wasn't right. She missed Len. It didn't matter what his name was. The shards of his shattered heart which had broken away and splintered into hers were still they. They were proof that his heart existed. A heart doesn't die as long as a part of it remains alive. Those feelings, as partial and fragmentary as they might come, are always real. It's impossible to destroy them.

_Of course, hearts move. They collide, and they break each other apart. That's the nature of how the shards get there in the first place. Broken hearts are necessarily part of the process. You don't get anywhere as long as your heart is full and whole. It won't have room for the heart of the other person. Likewise, the other person can't live in your heart with the whole of his or her heart._

_It seems like common sense and cliche, but do we really think about it? To fall in love with someone is to break away a piece of our heart. What happens to that other piece which we put aside? It doesn't die, does it? If you break your heart into parts, it's impossible for both parts to be perfectly equal. Fragments break away and float uselessly. Each time you change your heart, you lose a part of it, little by little._

_How many loves does it take to destroy a heart? How much of his heart is there left? What portion of my heart do I need to give him to make us whole? When will I do about what's left over? Will the pieces fit?_

_No. I'll make them fit. I'll make them lock together so that they can't be broken apart without destroying both parts. I don't care if what happens to me. But if it's not me who makes him happy, what will I do with myself? There's no one else. I don't want there to be anyone else. Why would I even think about there being someone else?_

_They say there are many different kinds of love. That's probably wrong. Probably. I used to believe those kind of things. They're designed to make you sweat. You don't realize the scam because you get exactly what you paid for. I guess that's good, too, but personally, I can't stand it._

_Love is the same. It doesn't matter who or what or where or when or even how. All love is the same. I think the difference between people is in what they do about those feelings._

_Maybe that's that Westermarck thing?_

_When you love someone you know very well, like your mother or father, or your best friend, you can only love them in one way. It's not "family love" and "friendly love," it's more like "love" and "family attributed to the same person. Sure, you love them, but you sacrifice part of the attribute of love so that you can also share in the attribute of family._

_That might also be why childhood friends almost never get married, contrary to popular belief. I think we only notice those kind of things when they actually happen. Every day people lose the lottery, but when that one person wins it, we all know his name and what he looks like and the color of his piss when he flushes the toilet._

_In reality, being a childhood friend must make it harder to convey those feelings. You're so afraid of losing the friendship that you aren't willing to give that up for love._

_And that's why sibling love is taboo. It's not for any really good reason. Genetics? Then just don't have kids. But love is different from evolution. You hardly remember how many years ago you were born, but you'll probably always remember easily your first time. Doing anything._

The song "Clementine" played faintly. Rin took out her phone. "Hello...?"

"K-Kagamine-chan!"

"Miku? I thought you were calling me 'Rin.'"

"Rin!" Miku was running. Rin could hear her shoes clopping on the pavement and hear her breath over the speakers.

"Rin!" she called again. "Rin! Do you remember the address that you saw in my phone? 8-13-1 Ginza?"

Rin did. "Why?"

"You need to go there now! Right now! Hurry!"

"But—" CLICK! "..."

She never expected to find him. She simply let her feet take her wherever she felt like going. Devoid of direction. And here she was and the upscale address.

The clock she passed by in the lobby read: 11:52.

* * *

Up the elevator as high as it would go. Down a flight of stairs. Up another elevator. Stop to ask for directions. She did all of this without thinking about it. Not even thinking at all. It was just complete and utter emptiness.

_Faster. Faster! It's close! Come on!_

It was now: 11:59.

"AGHU!" THUD!

"!"


	31. The Last Day

_Final Act: The Last Day_  
_Clementine_

* * *

12:00 AM

CRACK!

* * *

_In a cavern, in a canyon,  
Excavating for a mine,  
Dwelt a miner, forty-niner,  
And his daughter, Clementine._

_Oh, my darling. Oh, my darling.  
Oh, my darling Clementing.  
Thou art lost and gone forever.  
Dreadful sorry Clementine._

_Light she was, and like a fairy,  
And her shoes were number nine.  
Herring boxes without topses.  
Sandals were for Clementine._

_Oh, my darling. Oh, my darling.  
Oh, my darling Clementing.  
Thou art lost and gone forever.  
Dreadful sorry Clementine._

_Drove she ducklings to the water  
Ev'ry morning just at nine.  
Hit her foot against a splinter,  
Fell into the foaming brine._

_Oh, my darling. Oh, my darling.  
Oh, my darling Clementing.  
Thou art lost and gone forever.  
Dreadful sorry Clementine._

_Ruby lips above the water,  
Blowing bubbles, soft and fine,  
But, alas, I was no swimmer,  
So I lost my Clementine._

___Oh, my darling. Oh, my darling.  
Oh, my darling Clementing.  
Thou art lost and gone forever.  
Dreadful sorry Clementine._

_How I missed her! How I missed her,_  
_How I missed my Clementine,_  
_But I kissed her little sister,_  
_I forgot my Clementine._

___Oh, my darling. Oh, my darling.  
Oh, my darling Clementing.  
Thou art lost and gone forever.  
Dreadful sorry Clementine._


	32. RIPRELEASE

**R I P = R E L E A S E**

* * *

_Ow... What? What is this...? Where is this...? M-my body... doesn't move... But it hurts. My whole body hurts... Even my head... It's dark. I can't see anything. Where is this place? I hear something. Crying... Laughing... Why can't I move? Open my eyes...! Move...! Move!_

"—"

_What are they saying? I can't even hear. My ears feel like they're filled with water. The pressure is so strong it's insane. I can't breathe very well either. It smells like perfume. And sweat... and... blood?_

There was a loud sound then. It was dull, so he couldn't discern its presence, but it was loud. Loud enough that he felt it on whatever he was sitting on. It was soft, like a bed. The room was warm.

"—"

"—"

"..."

_Why can't I hear anything that's being said? Why can't I move? It feels like... there's something holding my arms together. But my whole body is numb too. My legs are free, but my toes will hardly budge. I know why I can't see... I've been blindfolded..._

"—" Scuffling.

"You just have to sit and watch..." The voice was feminine and husky. He recognized it. But whose voice? He couldn't remember the name or the person. The voice alone: only the voice. "Ah~ I think he's waking up now."

"I have to hand it to you... this is pretty romantic." That voice was the weak and tired voice of a girl. It trembled dangerously, as though the speaker were on the verge of falling asleep. He could smell blood, again.

"Oh. So you _do_ understand my logic..." The husky one laughed in an oily manner.

The weak one spoke up again. "I do understand it. That's how I know it's not logic..."

"Call it whatever you want. You're just unaccounted for."

The blindfolds came off. The hazy, nearly shapeless amoeba-like form of something burned into his eyes. He tried to look around, but it was useless. The room he was in was dimly lit, and his vision was not for the better. He tried to move. His body was more responsive, now, but he was still physically restrained by something, the digging in of which was causing him increasing pain.

"_What's my name?_"

_What language is that...? It's not Japanese, but... english?_

He opened his mouth and responded in a hoarse, guttural sound. "_Lu... ka..._"

That oily laughter again. Somehow it made him afraid. "Your name was Sotone... Riza? Haha, how cool."

"Len. Len! Can you hear me?" The weak voice was calling out to him. "Are you alright, Len? Are you hurt?"

"_Ri... za..._" His throat tore painfully with each syllable. His vision was getting a little better now, and his thoughts were becoming a little clearer too. This was the influence of a drug. He'd been poisoned.

"Ara~ You two are going to make me cry."

"There's really no helping it, is there?"

"Would you like me to kill you now?"

"If that's really it, yeah, probably..."

_"No..."_ Pain, again. He had a feeling they were watching him. The husky voice burst into roaring laughter.

"See? Even Hidari-kun wants you to watch!" He felt something press against his thighs. "I think that's the reason it's taken so long for us to get to this point: Because he's been waiting for all of you to show up so you can watch!"

Cold, cool air whispered by his abruptly exposed body. He must have been naked. A blanket had been covering him. Something warm floated over his body. An ecstatic gasp escaped him.

"Ahn~!" The husky voice moaned. A great weight slammed against him. Something hot and pleasant consumed his flesh. He wanted to make a sound, but could barely make a noise with his own breathing.

_Stop!_ He wanted to say. _Don't do this!_But it was of no use. Sensation was returning rapidly now, but the only thing he could feel was Luka. And it felt good. That was the worst part; that he was actually enjoying this.

"Mmn! Hidari-kun!" Luka held fast to him, shaking her hips eagerly. "Is it good, baby? Is it good? Ohh~"

"You make me sick." Riza covered her eyes with her bloody hand and looked away. Luka didn't seem to care very much. Just kept groaning and enjoying herself mindlessly. Like an animal.

She turned Len's stupid face to Riza and exclaimed. "Look, Sotone-chan! Look at his face! He looks like it feels so good!"

"You're disgusting..." Riza uttered under her breath. "And vile..."

"_Hee hee_~ Does he ever make this face when you fuck him? Hmm~? Is that why you're so angry? Are you jealous?" Len came. Inside of her. She shuddered and let out a primal growl. It was actually kind of sexy. And yet the situation called for a different reaction. He was completely powerless to stop Luka, who refused to relent. Even sex, now, was painful. "Mmm..." she cooed. "Hidari-kun. Baby, I'm not done yet. Come on. Uhuu~ Like that. Yeah!"

It went on like this for a long while. Luka even had an orgasm, but wasn't satisfied. "I'm not stopping until we climax... _together_... So that's good, isn't it, baby?" She suckled his earlobe. The feeling was almost traumatic. "This time it's my turn to make you feel so good you won't even remember making love to me. I'll show you that blissful feeling you give me, baby. How I feel every single morning with you." He abruptly came, again. "Mmn... That's good. The longer it takes, the more I can satisfy you."

_This is... villifying... I don't even... have a choice... Can I just... close my eyes and... enjoy this?_

"_Please... stop..._"

"I love you, Hidari-kun!" She couldn't hear him. "Oh, god, it's so good you're crying, isn't it? You feel so good! So good that it's scary, right?" He felt her nails digging violently into his skin. "This feeling! Don't ever forget it, Hidari-kun! Ohhhh~!"

"..."

"Perhaps you'd like a turn...?" she murmured into the corner.

Riza spat. Literally ejected a bloody wad of spit onto the floor. "Like hell...! You're not even human! Can't you see the terror... in his eyes?"

Len Kagamine raised his eyes and saw Riza lying there on the floor against the mirror closet, blood all around her and all over her. His heart skipped a frightened beat. The right side of her face had been mauled. She was bruised. Blood dripped down her arm and fell from her elbow to her gray dress.

"Are you finally coming to, Hidari?" Luka leaned over him, her breasts pressing against his shoulder through a thin, transparent nightgown. He pulled away from her. "Oh, now, Hidari-kun~ You're hurting my feelings."

"I don't want this," He whispered softly.

SLAP! She struck him so hard that his vision turned over and darkened for just a moment. He became dizzy again. "That's no good, Hidari-kun~" she scolded him. "You should just stay quiet and enjoy this..." No one said anything after that. Luka stayed there, leaning against Len and trembling. She was laughing. At him, and at Riza. At herself maybe? What was the point of doing these insane things? Or had she simply gone crazy?

That was probably it. Luka had finally gone insane, just like she promised she would. Or rather, it was more like she had finally snapped. _I think that Luka Megurine has always been insane..._ He thought pitifully.

Then he felt something hot and wet spill out over him. Luka wasn't trembling anymore. But she was crying. A sob escaped her. She wrapped her arms around Len, rocking gently. Was this an act too? Or were these tears genuine? Somehow, it stung like acid. _I have to do something about this situation to get us out of here_, he realized. _Riza's in danger._He wanted to look at her, to assess her and see if they might come up with a plan to escape. But with Luka hanging on his shoulders, that would attract too much attention.

In the window, a twinkling light read in morse code: HELP. IS. COMING. "!" It was coming from Riza. She had her phone, with a flashlight built in, out, and was flashing him messages as discretely as possible. CAN. YOU. UNDERSTAND. Len decided that twitching his toes would be the most effective method of replying.

ARE. YOU. OK.

BLOOD. LOSS. BROKEN. ARM. NO.

CAN. YOU. STAND.

DIZZY. SHOCK. NO.

PLAY. ALONG. FOR. NOW. WILL. FIGURE. SOMETHING. OUT.

NO. TIME.

WHAT.

LUKA. IS. GOING. TO. But the message stopped there.

Luka stood up and signed. "You two lovebirds... making a pass at each other when you think I can't see..." She approached Riza and scowled. "But I can see. I see everything. I know everything." She kicked Riza in the gut and stomped on her phone. The poor girl made no sound at all, but crumpled over, unconscious. "How sad," Luka commented. "I wanted her to see the end. Or maybe..." She turned to Len. "I should be like that with my phone. Does Hidari-kun like that kind of crazy girl?"

Len didn't say anything now. He knew better. "Good." She confirmed. "You aren't making sound anymore. Now all I have to do..." She climbed onto the bed and mounted him again. "Is rip you up..." She pricked his wrist so that a little trickle of blood flowed. "Don't jerk, now, or I'll really make a cut. And then I'll have no choice but to do this quickly." Tears fell onto the open wound and diluted his fresh, bright red blood.

"Luka... please stop this." He begged. "This is crazy, Luka. Why are you doing this?"

She cut his other wrist and smiled. "That voice... it makes me so mad. That's the only part about you I never loved, Hidari-kun..." She pressed the knife to his throat. Little beads of red blossomed out.

"Luka! Is this really what you want?" He writhed desperately. She wasn't going to let any of them live. Not even herself. She struck his chin with the handle of her knife, and he heard the sound of his jaw bone shattering.

"You're too noisy, baby. If you're not quieter, someone will hear us. That's why I'm going to tear into your throat and rip it out." She forced her lips onto his and started sliding the knife along his jugular.

"LEN!"

* * *

Rin smashed into the door with all of her weight. Her left shoulder crushed against the door and came out of its socket. She cried out in pain. There was Len, lying tied up on the bed, his wrists bleeding. And there was Luka Megurine, coming at her with a sharp glinting edge extending from her hand. From beyond her field of vision, someone kicked out at Luka and tripped her to the floor. Rin his the ground with her shoulder and curled up, crying in agonizing pain.

"YOU...!"

"GUGH—!"

Rin rotated her head and saw Riza collapse, blood rising up into the air and falling in a gracious arc. Her eyes, looking at Rin sadly, were covered in blood. She undulated limply and was still again. Then Luka turned on Rin, smiling.

"It's the sister," she hummed. "The sister who did a forbidden thing with her brother. Perfect. Now we can all die together." Luka lunged. Rin shrieked.

"NO— UGHAG—!" Blood spilled over Rin. Luka gasped.

"LEN! NO!"

BANG!

The sound of glass shattering. Screams. Someone's warm, wet hand against her face. Rin faded from consciousness.

* * *

Luka was floating. High in the night sky, she reached out and closed her fingers around Len's throat.

"No matter how many times I cry I can't just get used to this feeling. If I could just rip your throat out I could quietly keep you all to myself..."

She tightened her clutches and pulled Len's throat out—

Sirens wailed. Everyone was crying. She couldn't feel any pain anymore. Len's voice was gone, and with it, her suffering. So it was fine now. The glass ceiling beneath her cracked and gave way. She fell to the ground. In tomorrow's papers, the cause of death would be determined as nine fractures in her spine, the shock of which forced her body to shut down. An eery smile decorated her lifeless body.

* * *

Everyone was shouting. Guests were peering out of their doors in every hallway. "Someone's been shot!" people were shouting. They were all panicking, unsure of what was going on. Police officers and hotel staff were ushering everyone back into their rooms. Four people pushed their way past the massing crowd. An officer grabbed one of them, a tall blue haired man by the shoulders.

"Stop, you four! This area is being closed off! This is a crime scene!"

"I'm teacher at their school!" Kaito insisted, ripping away. The officer stumbled over and shouted,

"Stop them!"

Neru clicked her tongue and turned around. "My name is Akita Neru! Let him pass!" Everyone recognized the last name of the Tokyo police chief. Nobody stopped them.

Miku and Haku were already in the room. Investigators were standing around. A troop of paramedics were kneeling over three bodies. Miku wanted to vomit.

Grimacing in pain as the medics lay her out on a stretcher, Riza Sotone kept struggling to turn her head to the other two. "Len! Len!" she shrieked. Even though the left side of her face was slashed up, her eye socket a gaping mush, she was still concerned about the others. They took her out of the room.

Len Kagamine lay unconscious on the bed. Officers were taking pictures of his wounds. He was bloody all over, and still bleeding profusely. Another stretcher was brought in. When the wall of people around him broke, Haku fell to the floor as she saw his injuries. His neck was cut open, and his wrists were covered in cuts and bruises. He was naked, so they covered him with one of the hotel sheets.

His sister, Rin Kagamine, was sitting unconscious in a chair, a large ice gel wrapped over her left shoulder. She too had blood on her face and chest. Everywhere was bloody. The windows were all cracked. One of them was gaping wide open.

"Luka Megurine is confirmed dead," they heard over a police radio.

Behind them, Teto Kasane was escorted in. She looked at the scene and burst into tears. Quietly, they were escorted out, as crime scene technicians took over.

When they came outside, they saw Neru getting in to the ambulance with Len. She wasn't crying. Her face was cold and emotionless. Kaito came placed a shoulder on Haku and Teto. Miku just sighed.

The song "Clementine" was playing softly in the background. An officer picked up Rin's ringing phone and placed it into an evidence back. Miku could see the little orange phone strap. "Let's go," she said. She was the only one to say anything at all.


	33. Forever Plus Two Days

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Epilogue~  
~Scene: I~_

* * *

Luka Megurine's headstone was situated in a grassy knoll, at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea in her hometown in Okinawa. Hidari Sorane sat down on the grass and rested his back against its face, looking up at the sky. There were small dogs here, who wandered about, owned and fed by a family who lived here. One of those dogs, an old Welsh Corgi with an all white head, was curled up beside him.

He wore a tight black suit with a high collar that obscured his neck and arms. His hair had grown longer over the three months he had spent in the hospital, and he secured it with a black bucket hat which pressed his bangs over his eyes and face so that others couldn't see which was he was looking. He seemed to be sleeping.

A tall pale skinned girl with long unkempt teal hair came up from the beach below, her flowing white dress fluttering in the wind. She approached Hidari and sat down between his spread, knee-bent legs and curled up in his arms. Shifting his head to the side, he offered her his hand, which she took and held to her stomach.

Miku felt the rough calluses which had smoothened out with the passage of time. Beneath these wrist cuffs she knew there were long jagged scars, one for each arm. Hidari's broken body was still very beautiful. His long thing fingers warmed her chilled stomach. She shivered.

"Let's go back," Hidari muttered, getting up and pulling Miku with him. "It's getting late."

They rode back to the mainland mostly in silence, sharing a stick of spring onion Miku had bought from the market. The sky was so dark now. The stars were twinkling over the ocean. Miku couldn't help herself. She siezed Hidari's hands and made him dance with her, leading him around the ferry's starboard. Hidari was blushing in embarrassment. Miku took off his hat and put it on herself. "There now, everyone should be able to see your handsome face."

"You're being unnecessary..."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

Miku paused at that. "Well," she answered, tapping her chin. "It's just for tonight."

"Yeah, yeah... You're always too serious."

"I think anybody watching us would find that line ironic coming from you."

"But it's true."

"Just dance already."

She hummed the tune of Clementine as they stepped.

"Why that song?"

"It's been stuck in my head lately. I can't forget about it."

"Do you know what it's about?" Hidari led her back to the railing as they watched port grow closer and closer.

"No," Miku dangled her hair precariously over the water. "Tell me."

"It's about a father who killed himself after his daughter Clementine drowned in a river. And the man singing, he loved Clementine, but because he couldn't swim he couldn't save her."

"Hmm... Is Luka your Clementine?"

Hidari closed his eyes and yawned. "Not you too..." He took Miku by the shoulders and said, clearly, "There is no Clementine."

Miku smiled and kissed him. "I'm not the person you should be saying that to..."

"..."

* * *

Len's red cheeks reminded Miku that they were inseparable now. She palmed his cheek longingly and sighed. "Like this, we'll always to be together." Len smiled weakly as they trudged the length of the parking lot to Len's car.

"I'm sorry about how it turned out."

Miku stopped walking and slapped Len lightly on the face. "No, you aren't," she said, laughing. "Because if you are then I'm going to take my blood back." As Len contemplated that idea, a little intimidated, Miku yawned and stretched and hurried to the dark blue Altezza RS200. "Huu~ I always wanted to do that just once."

"You're weird, Miku."

Along the way, Miku had a question. "Did you ever love me? I mean, _really_ love me?"

Len didn't answer that right away. When he did, his voice was soft. "I do love you. The same way I always have. And I always will love you."

"But," Miku's sad eyes rose up to his road-oriented face. "I'm not the person who lives in your heart."

They drove in silence the rest of the way. When Len drove up to Miku's house, a generous A frame in a spacious private neighborhood, she had one last question. "Why did you love me?"

Len stared. "That's because... there's no real reason."

Miku blinked.

"When you love somebody, you just can't help those feelings. You can't understand them, but it doesn't matter because love is love, Miku." He hugged her tightly. "Isn't it the same for you, too?" They stepped out of the car and he walked her to the front of her house.

"I think this is the first time you're taking me home without planning to come inside..." She observed. She said it with a kind of laugh, as though it were a humorous thing to think about.

"Isn't it also the first time I've ever driven you anywhere?"

"Yeah, you're right. That's also the first time I've ever been to Okinawa, although I do wish the circumstances weren't so morbid." They both chuckled a little mirthlessly, without really regretting it. There wasn't a lot else to be smiling about. She took Len by the hand and nodded. "You know, I had a lot of firsts with you, Len."

"You don't regret any of them?"

"I only regret that they weren't all your firsts, as well..." She pressed her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, swallowing down the bulging lump in her throat.

The _love_ which Len spoke of and the _love_ which Miku wanted from him were not the same. The mutual attraction was there, but not the necessary compatibility which would bring both happiness. Even though she knew all of that, the time she had spent with Len had been among the best days she had ever had. Those feelings were real and could never be replaced, and she didn't intend to have them replaced either. But even though she knew all of that, she still...

"I never really enjoyed myself when we were on that gondola..." Len scratched the back of his neck, remembering the unpleasant feeling of being high up in a swinging gondola for the first time. "It was kinda scary..."

Miku remembered it too, and couldn't stop herself from snickering. "Yeah," she muttered. "It frightened you so much that we had to go home."

"Ah, as I recall that was also the first time I got to go to your house..."

"Oh, then that was the first time I got on t—..." She caught herself spouting something vulgar and turned bright red. Len picked up on it and stroked her hair affectionately.

"There were other things, too... Like the first time I ever went on a school roof." To which Miku replied disconcertedly in disbelief. "And the first time I ever went to a church. The first time I..." He went on to describe many other firsts, as meaningless and irrelevant as they must have seemed. It was as if he, too, remembered every single moment of their relationship together, and it made her feel a little bitter about it. But that Len had paid her so much attention was genuine and irreplacable, and nothing short of love could explain that.

"And..." Len placed the hand with which Miku had taken his on his cheek, where she could feel the warmth rising in his face. "You're the first girl who ever saved my life." Miku watched him blush with blood that was a little bit hers, and felt her heart skip a beat.

"You're also..." A tear fell spilled to the ground as she stared at the silver band on her finger. "The first person whose life I've ever saved..."

"Shh..." He hugged Miku close to his chest and frowned. There wasn't anything he could say, really, to satisfy her hurting heart. If it didn't hurt now, it would hurt later. Although he would never confess to her or anyone else, Miku was also the first girl whom Len couldn't stand to see cry. She stopped sobbing after a long time, and finally just stood there in his arms waiting for something to happen.

"Tell me, Len," she said nasally, after nothing happened for a while. "If I hadn't been the one to save you... if it had been Rin... Do you think that you and I—that we could have..."

"No." He squeezed her tightly to quell a fresh wave of sobs. "Because when you love somebody, you just can't help those feelings..."

All he saw was her long, teal hair which he had so often played with after they had spent a pleasant night making love. Today it was straight, and not pulled into twin ponytails, which had been making him feel awkward all afternoon. He sighed unhappily and drove back to the main road. For a long, long time he drove, when at last he pulled into the parking lot of a bar in Ginza and saw that he had recieved a text from Miku. It read:

WE'RE THROUGH, LEN KAGAMINE. I LOVE YOU FOREVER PLUS TWO DAYS.


	34. Why We Smile

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Epilogue~  
~Scene: II~_

* * *

In Ginza, not far from the hotel where the Jazz/Pop star Luka Megurine fell nine stories to her death in what the public considered an attempted murder-suicide, was a bar where happy people came to feel sad. Perfectly happy people would have a drink made by the famous bartender and shed away that happy husk to reveal the miserable, despairing personage hidden away beneath layers. And when they left, the skip with which they stepped would be just a little more genuine than when they had arrived.

It was a watering hole for those metaphysical seekers who understood the truth of the world and its transience and desired to master it as furthest as human limits permitted. It was a land deeply acquainted with the workings of one's soul. And there, behind the counter, the eternally unhappy bartener Meiko Sakine leaned delicately against a rack of wine bottles and polished off an empty champagne glass.

It was about half full, as it always was. The occupants preferred to come up to the table for each drink and then have a seat near the very back of the bar. They didn't play music here, so the atmosphere was influenced only by the raucousness of the patrons. It made spotting fights easier, but it also made time go by slower.

A thin young man swaggered in silently. The bar's regulars were not used to seeing suit-vested men, but then the bar had newcomers all the time. The person's aura seemed to click in naturally. They ignored him as he meandered up to the bartender.

"Can I have something to cheer myself up with?" a customer asked. Meiko looked over her shoulder and clicked her tongue.

"Tch! Another new one..." She muttered.

"Base?"

"How about Gin?"

"Okay..." Ice. One and one-half ounces of gin, one ounce of syrup, two and one-half ounches of grapefruit, and three-fourths ounces of freshly squeezed lemon. Add a little campari and angostura. Shake and pour.

"SP Highball, huh? That's probably the last drink I expected you to make..."

Meiko blinked. Was this kid another bartender or something? Now that she looked at him closely, she saw that he actually was a kid, at that. "Hey, are you even old enough to be drinking?" She hadn't really thought about it because he was wearing a suit with a hat over his face.

The boy removed the offending accessory and smiled softly. "Probably not, ma'am."

"Oh... Len..." She blushed and slammed the glass in front of him, pursing her lips and running into a back room. He smiled. When she came back, she had a little more makeup on. She pretended to be upset.

"I'm sorry I haven't called you in a while. Things got busy."

"Right, right..." Meiko was used to that sort of line, but hearing it from Len for the first time made it kind of funny and somehow refreshing. "So you grew up a little, eh?"

"Hmm, in some ways."

"I _hope_ you're coming on to me."  
Len scratched his chin and laughed in an easygoing masculine way which didn't fit with his young face. She felt herself going hot. It had been so long since she had last seen him, and the prospect of a decent night now seemed invaluable.

"Afraid not," was his disappointing reply. Meiko hadn't been expecting that, but she was prepared for it.

"Ah, ah, so you grew in that way, then..."

He shrugged.

"So now there's no time for Meiko Sakine anymore, neh?" She was using his slang, mocking him for it. "Just here for a drink?"

"Not just any drink," he consumed his highball bit by bit. "The first drink you ever made me. I was sure that you wouldn't make it unless I asked, but..." He cast Meiko a doubting glance, in jest. "I thought you were the kind of bartender who never presents the same drink twice?"

"Yeah, well," she blushed. "It's not like I was expecting you to keep me company."

"You're making easy. Thanks." He downed the remaining half of his drink in one mouthful and set it down on his coaster with a smile. Meiko blinked nervously.

* * *

"When we were together, did you ever consider that you loved me?"

"What's with that question?"

"You always used to say that I'm your favorite... Why is that, I wonder?"

"Because..." Meiko didn't want to admit that she had romantic feelings towards him. And yet somehow he had asked the very question she had had on her mind from the moment she had stepped into his car.

They drove around, bathing in bright florescent and neon lights. Meiko lit a cigarette and Len rolled down the window for her. "Why ask me a question like that now?" she asked, after submerging her head in the frigid winds.

"You can't answer?"

"Not unless you tell me why you're asking."

"Okay. You ask me the question."  
"W-what question?" She was probably red in the face, but that was the reason she'd stuck her head out.

"The first one I asked you."

"I'm not going to ask a question I'm not looking for an answer to," she answered defiantly.

"Well, I'm going to answer."

"Fine. Do whatever you want."

"Yes."

It took her a moment to realize he was answering the question he had wanted her to ask him and not simply agreeing with her. She fidgeted anxiously, ashamed that she could be so subdued with a school boy. "You can't expect me to believe that, can you?" she accused him, smiling. But Len was straight-faced and honest, and she knew that. Besides, she really wanted to believe that he meant what he was saying.

"If you feel that way, then why don't you spend the night with me?"

"I can't."

"Y'see?" she laughed. "If you can't spend the night with me then it's not that simple."

"If I could, wouldn't it just be for sex?" He looked at her with mild amusement. Meiko's heart raced.

"Then, tell me why you won't spend the night with me."

"Because I want you to marry me." He looked away.

"Don't joke like that..."

"You're right, sorry." A gentle laugh. She felt disappointed again. "Because I love you..."

"That really doesn't make any sense..."

"Then why are you smiling?"

Was she smiling? She hadn't realized. "Why are you smiling?"

"Because I'm thinking about a time in which you will know how much I love you, Meiko. I'm wondering when it will come, and I'm smiling in anticipation of that day." Len pulled over in front of the bar and sat quietly, just as quietly as her.

"Geez! Saying such manly things!" She pinched his cheek angrily. "When you're nothing but a stupid little kid." With her other hand she attacked his other cheek. He was still smiling despite that, and she became more frustrated and hit his arm. "It's not nice to make a maiden's heart tremble!" She hit him harder. "So you shouldn't go around telling girls lies like you told me." A tear. "Some of them, they'll actually take you seriously, y'know?"

More tears. She crawled over to the driver's side of the car and curled over Len. "And those girls... they won't know how to take it when you..." She kissed him passionately. "Tell them..." Desperately. "How you really..." And forced herself to grin as she wiped her tears into his shirt. "Feel..."

His lips, his cheeks, his nose, his ears, his neck... He had a scar on his neck now, an unsightly gash that frightened her as she ran her tongue over it and felt the new terrain for the first time. He hadn't moved, but was watching her calmly, and she felt ashamed of herself, pulling back to the passenger seat and pulling her things together. "I'm sorry for—"

He took her by the arm before she could open the door and leaned over to kiss her. Her chest twinged painfully, but her heart fluttered. How long it lasted, she didn't know, but it wasn't long enough. Their eyes met. She wasn't crying anymore, nor smiling. Len wasn't either.

"Yeah, right," Meiko scoffed, composing herself. "You men, you're all the same. You go for the prettiest new thing you can wrap your arms around."

Len chuckled. Meiko stole a quick kiss.

"Good. As long as I doubt you, you'll keep making that pretty face for me, right?" She winked.

"Yup. That's why _we_ smile."


	35. A Place For Everything

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Epilogue~  
~Scene: III~_

* * *

Yesterday a man had come in with an old cell phone asking her to restore its service. It was the same the week before, as well. Customers were coming in with used phone or phones bought elsewhere and using her store for their activation. It was nice because that meant a long term contract, and in the long run sustainability was the preference of any intelligent business venture.

But the money would only trickle down slowly. Right now would be a good time to have a big of a torrential downpour. For each month that her products sat on the shelf unsold, the value of her business would drop. If her hardware wasn't selling she would have to downsize her store and rent the other part of the property or lower the prices of her good and possibly even sell them to another vendor.

Of course, the option to do both also existed, but she would have preferred neither one. That simply wasn't possible under the circumstances. Unless they sold... it still came back to that, and she simply didn't have an answer to the problem. Advertising was a possibility, but probably useless because she was an independent vendor. Competing with chain distributors was a losing battle, but there were other stores to think about as well. The money would go to waste. But what else was there for her to do?

Riza Sotone had fallen asleep over the paperwork she was supposed to be filling out. Teto Kasane smiled and patted her softly on the shoulder. Perhaps now was a good time to call it quits and go home. Having a part timer certainly was helpful, but would be no good if she overworked the poor girl. "Hey, Sotone-san, wake up," she urged her gently. Sotone mumbled and yawned stubbornly. "If you don't wake up I'll tickle you," Teto giggled.

The sound of crunching footsteps stole her attention. That sound was also what woke Riza up. She was rapidly alert, reaching for a canister of mace hidden in her shirt pocket. Teto switched off the lights. The footsteps stopped. Riza stood poised.

The sound of a key sliding into the latch. Riza's took aim. But Teto knew right away who it was and barked, "Stop!" The key paused. Riza slowly lowered her can of mace. Teto wiped her forehead and sighed. "Yeah, come in, Hidari."

* * *

Len Kagamine pushed the key to Teto's office all the way in and turned the lock open. He opened the door and looked at both of the familiar faces with a nonchalant smile. "I didn't think there would be anybody here at this time." Riza scoffed.

"Oh, so you really are here to rob us." She lobbed the mace at his stomach and listened to it hit the ground with a loud CLANK. Len knelt down to pick it up and set it on a filing cabinet to his left shoulder. Teto gave him a hug and sighed again.

"You're okay, Hidari. They didn't tell us you were out of the hospital."

"Hey, is it really okay?" Riza eyed the scar poking out from Len's collar. "I mean, you had another month to go, right? Should you really be making office calls at this time of night in your condition?"

Len took Teto by the shoulders and threw her up into the air. She shrieked angrily and kicked Len when he caught her. "Put me down, you idiot! That's not funny." Even Riza was laughing. "I swear... Why _did_ you come, Hidari?"

"Well, I convinced the hospital I was fine."

"Are they convinced?" Riza asked slyly.

"No. But anyway I'm out now. And I'm fine."

"I think Kasane-san here would have preferred it if you were coming to see her."

"Well, your house was next on my list, Riza."

Riza blushed and went to the water closet, saying, "Still the same..."

Teto looked over her shoulder and then jumped up, whispering, "Okay, pick me up, pick me up!" Len swung her over her shoulders and spun around, setting her down upon a table where she punched him in the face. "There now, you got what you came for. Now scram."

"Hmm..." He was chuckling. "You miss it, huh...?"

Teto smiled somberly, palming his chest. "A little. But I miss you more than anything."

"Thank you." He hugged her. She grimaced.

"What for?"

"For always looking out for my sister. For that, I'm really grateful."

"Yeah... yeah, okay, let go now." She rubbed noses with him after he set her down. "Don't ever do that with Rin-chan, okay? Or I'm gonna tell her things about you you'd rather she doesn't know."

"Am I interrupting? Or do I get a third rate 'let's make up as friends' apology event too?" Riza folded her arms and smirked. Len just stared into her eyes for a long time, until she started laughing. "Oh, god, Len, you're pathetic. C'mere so I can hit you."

When she had done that, Len turned back to Teto again and handed her his keys. "Here," he said, placing it in her palm and closing her fingers around it. "You told me to use it whenever I needed to, but, over the last few years I don't think I've ever tried. It's probably better if I give it back."

Teto nodded, her eyes a little red. "Yeah... that's probably the best. So, what is this? You're just tying up loose ends?"

"Well, if you want to be pessimistic," Len acted offended. "Teto?"

"Don't say it. I know what you're going to say and I'm telling you: Don't say it."

"I love you." Len smiled and stepped into the doorway. "And you too, Riza."

Palming her face, Teto groaned. "Oh, I feel young again. It's a horrible feeling." Riza threw a wad of tissue at him on his way out.

"Hey, I never asked you to say that!" she exclaimed. Len waved and closed the door behind him, leaving behind words which Teto remembered well.

A place for everything.


	36. Always

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Epilogue~  
~Scene: IV~_

* * *

The beef and potato stew had long ago grown cold. The lights in the kitchen were still on. The countertop was cluttered with knives and chopping boards and vegetable peelings. Two dinner sets had been placed on the dining table. A once tall orange candle had burned away to the bottom, where the wick had simply run out of wax and extinguished itself.  
Outside the sky was light with the coming sunrise. Ambiguous silhouettes danced in the dim brightness. A white cat with yellow eyes leapt up onto the fence from the backyard lawn and crossed into some place unknown.

The television was on again. Early morning paid programming. Curled up in a blanket on the couch, Rin Kagamine mumbled nonsensically. Len's quiet footsteps did not wake her. Nor did she rise when he leaned over her, with his hair dragging carelessly along her face, and kissed her on the cheeks.

The stew was delicious. It wasn't beautiful food, but it tasted better than his own cooking. He hadn't realized just how good she had become cooking on her own. Had she missed his boxed lunches in his long absence? He looked at the candles and the table set for two and decided that the hospital must have informed her of his absence. Or maybe it had been like this every night, waiting for him to come home.

When he thought about that, his heart panged. To be wanted was a feeling he wasn't unfamiliar with. Being needed was a feeling he had only lacked in his early youth. But he had had plenty of that in his lifetime. No matter who it was, or for what reason, he was needed.

Like father. Although father liked to act as though he were doing everyone a huge favor, the truth was that he was a lonely person. As much as he played the role of an indifferent, perhaps seemingly omnipotent figure, he was really relying on others being there to coax him out of his isolation. Len had known that for a long time. He liked that kind of innocent, earnest longing: the kind that one felt was so honest he ought not to share its true intentions.

Dad had needed him too. He cared about his family, and he had longed for the son he hadn't seen in years, and so he needed Len. But, most important, this girl, Rin, his sister, had needed him. Without him, she might not even be alive today. Being there brought this girl happiness, not because she needed him for anything, but because she needed him.

That was the reason he wanted to make her happy: Not because she had asked for it, but that she had asked for him. Being happy wasn't the issue. She just needed her brother back from wherever he'd been.

After a while, Rin grew older and more independent and she stopped needing him as much. It filled him with a sense of loneliness to consider that he was not needed. At first he had just given her a little space, but then it seemed that she needed more and more. And the further away he was, the more upset she became when he tried to close the distance.

That feeling in his chest...

Had he ever simply asked?

Very quietly he sank into a chair in the corner of the room and contented himself to watch Rin sleeping peacefully. He would stay up for the rest of the morning, many thoughts and emotions overcoming him, and would doze off into a heavy sleep before she could open her eyes.

* * *

"Nii-san..." Rin sat up and rubbed her eyes open. The sun was just peeking up over the faraway mountains. She turned her head to look at Len sleeping on the recliner in the corner and felt her heart throbbing. Probably because she was still tired and had just woken up.

He looked cold, so she took her blanket and covered it with her, feeling his forehead to check his temperature. "Baka nii-san..." she smiled. "You'll catch a cold like that. And then what will I do with you?"

"Mmn... Rin..."

"..."

The kitchen was clean. Which was odd because she hadn't left it that way. Len must have picked up after her. She opened all of the drawers to check, a way of satisfying a strange new curiosity which was overcoming her now that her brother was home. Everything was wear it belonged, except...

Some of the stew she'd made was gone. She giggled and poured some of it into a bowl and put it in the microwave. Len wouldn't wake up. She remembered that he was always a heavy sleeper. When the microwave was done, Rin remade the couch and sat down to eat. Len shifted restlessly in his sleep. He called out her name again.

"Always... together..."

She was glad he was asleep, so that he wouldn't see her blushing. Brushing the hair from one side of his face, Rin scoffed. "You're just a lady killer. Those tricks won't work on me." She kissed his cheek and grinned. The bowl she'd used was dirty, so she washed it. A pan was place on the stove and heated, and meanwhile Rin was cracking eggs into a mixing bowl. "Cause I always loved you, Len. And I always will."


	37. And Forever More

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Epilogue~  
~Scene: V~_

* * *

The wind felt good in her hair. She stood up at the top of the hill and underneath the great big tree which grew there, its roots pushing up the dirt and poking through the gorge it had made on the other side. Beyond that was the rest of the city. This little place, this island of a stock sundown paradise like those you find on television or in a light novel or manga was her paradise. The pale green grass was slowly coming back to life with the coming of spring. Her school uniform was all wet from the dew. She pulled out a phone and flipped it open to check the time on its colorful, white and blue display.

It was only nine-thirty in the morning. So she had plenty of time to wait for her sundown fantasy.

* * *

_These days..._

The classroom was dead silent. He shifted his eyes from the clock mounted over the chalkboard to the great big tree outside the windows. The students of class 2-C were just new. In the coming days a different persona would emerge, but for now it was a relief to Len Kagamine that class time could be relatively peaceful. He thumbed his new desk, thinking back to the old one where he might be looking at the desk two rows in front and fourth from the door. But there was no such seat here. Out on his desk.

_These days, when I think about the time we spent together..._

The teacher, Mr. Kamui came in then, just as quietly as his students were seated. The appointed class representative stood up and had everyone bow. It felt odd not doing this simple task. In his last class he'd been the class representative. After his long absence from school, his name hadn't even been considered for the position.

Mr. Kamui took roll call. "Akita. Fujita. Furukawa..." Mr. Kamui was quick and efficient, and never looked up when someone didn't answer. Once, in the middle, a napping student had woken up and suddenly called out his presence. "Kagamine."

"Present."

"Right. Today we are " Mr. Kamui jumped right into the lesson. The day droned on like that for a while. At lunch, Len was more than happy to be invited by the other boys out of the classroom to go on what they called a "girl patrol." They were happy to have his presence, if only to increase their chances of getting feminine attention.

But Len wasn't interested in any of the girls anymore. The boys seemed happy when, even though it was only ever Len the girls came to meet, he would casually slide them off to the other boys. After a while, he distanced himself enough to where they simply allowed him to drift away.

With new students it felt a little strange walking down a familiar place. But that was fine. He came up to 3-C's classroom and was greeted by Haku Yowane on the way out.

"Oh. I didn't know you were out of the hospital."

"Yes. Well, anyway, now I'm here."

"Hey," Haku inched upwards on her toes and pulled aside his collar to reveal that large horizontal scar across his neck. When she closed it quickly she murmured, "Don't be formal with me, alright?" Her hand touched his face longingly, but she laughed. "I have somewhere to be, so, see you."

Before he could respond to that she marched off by herself. He shrugged and came inside to look around. But the person he was looking for wasn't here. "Excuse me?" he asked, pulling someone to the side. "Is there someone here named Rin Kagamine?"

"Huh? Oh, Kagamine-chan, she didn't come in today. Are you her brother?"

"Yeah..." Len sighed. "I see..."

_I think back on all of the smiles we made together, and I feel sad..._

* * *

"Why is it that you feel sad?"

"Eh? Even if you ask me that, it's not like I can give you a straight answer."

"But we have time now. So please, try to be a little more honest with yourself."

"Where do I start?"

"Anywhere is fine. I'm here."

"And I'm here."

"So it's okay, right?"

"How does that make it okay?"

"Because we're both '_here_'. So it's okay."

"I don't really get it."

"That's okay too. Because you will."

"It's kind of scary."

"What is?"

"This."

"Well, tell me what _this_ is."

"Us. You and me."

"What about it?"

"It's going to change, right?"

"What will change?"

"Us. You and me."

"Is that bad?"

"It's kind of scary."

"Why is it scary?"

"Because I don't want it to change."

"Why don't you want it to change?"

"Because I'm afraid that we might not be able to go back."

"I'm here."

"I know that."

"And where are you?"

"I'm here."

"And where are we?"

"...we're both... '_here_'..."

"That's right."

"I don't want that to change."

"Why don't you want it to change?"

"Because we're already both 'here.' What else is there?"

"Us. Just us."

"Us? Just you and me?"

"No. Us. Just _us_."

"I don't get it again."

"Not two things, but one thing. Instead of you and I being '_here_' it can be just _us_."

"..."

"And then it won't matter who is here or who is there. It's just us."

"I see..."

* * *

"Are you still scared?" Len heard Rin say. He stared at her back, feeling the cool wind blow through his long hair. In it he could detect the faintest traces of banana scented shampoo. Drawn by it, he came to stand by her shoulder.

"No. Not anymore."

"That's good." Rin answered dryly. She looked into his eyes blankly. "But if you're ever scared again, you'll tell me, won't you?"

"Yeah..." He kissed Rin.

"I love you, Len." She kissed Len. And never let go. And smiled. Len smiled.

"I love you, too, Rin."

Behind them, a beautiful sunset cast two shadows down onto the ground below. The heat melted the two together, and then the two became one. And then the one became none.


	38. Fin

**The End**

Thanks for reading!


	39. Bonus I

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Graduation~_

* * *

"What's this?" Haku stared at the offering as though it may as well have been a live grenade. Neru shoved the box into Haku's arms and "Hmph'd!" her way back to her seat, cheeks red. Haku brushed white strands of hair from her eyes marveled quietly as she unwrapped the beautiful handkerchief folded gracefully over a sparkling bento which, surprisingly enough, contained all of her favorite things. She blushed and got up to set next to Neru, bowing slightly while her friend pretended to leaf through a textbook. The rough speaking blonde didn't acknowledge Haku's presence, but after a while loudly announced that she hadn't seen Len Kagamine all day.

"I'm pretty sure I saw him come to the gate today," Haku replied, meekly taking a bite of eel.

"That dumbass, doesn't he know we have to rehearse for our graduation after class today?" Neru massaged her forehead where her eyebrows creased. "He's probably goofing off again."

"Now, now, let's not use that kind of language in class." The teacher's aide, a young pale skinned beauty with long teal hair tied into twin ponytails that nearly touched her ankles as she walked into the room, chided lightly. "If Kagamine-kun doesn't want to come to practice then he can go ahead and make a fool of himself in front of his parents and everyone else when he graduates."

"Ah, but Miku—" Neru jumped out of her seat in protest. "—Rin's not here either! Don't you see the problem with this situation?"

"_Hatsune-san_...!" Miku corrected Neru with smirk and scribbled something on her notepad. Her gentle yet subtly assertive voice siezed hold of the classroom at once. "Anyway if you want to imply something you should come up with the proof to back it up."

"Tche~!" Neru leaned over and snatched with her teeth a slice of tuna which Haku had been just about to eat and consumed it herself, chewing exaggeratedly and staring out the window. "I bet that jerk ran off again, like he did last time. He never learns~ Hmm...?" Haku had picked up another piece of eel and offered it to Neru with softly pleading eyes which expressed a desire to appease her. Neru groaned and politely opened her mouth for Haku to feed her. The class fought to suppress laughter.

The teacher, Mr. Shion, walked in then and cleared his throat loudly. Haku and Neru separated from each other reluctantly, fidgeting and staring aimlessly out the window respectively.

Miku was still busy poring over her notepad and Mr. Shion, who had twice attempted to call her to attention, decided to peer over her shoulder to see just what was so interesting. She felt his presence at once and stumbled backwards into his chest in surprise, stuttering, "K-Kai—Shion-s-san! T-that's too close...!" She stepped away from him frantically and patted her chest rhythmically, breathing a sigh of relief once she had calmed herself down.

"Mmn... Miku, now that you're paying attention..."

"Hold it," Neru wailed accusingly. "How come she's just 'Miku' and you're 'Shion-san?'"

"I-it's not your business how he addresses his subordinates..." Miku glanced at Mr. Shion nervously.

"What's that you said, 'Hatsune-tan'...?" Neru cupped her hand around her ear as though straining to hear. "'KA-KA-KA-KAI—?' UOH~" She ducked in time to avoid Miku's clipboard as it was launched straight at her. "Hey! That was dangerous! I could have you fired for that!" Miku fidgeted anxiously as Mr. Shion leaned over to whisper something in her ear.

She perked up immediately, ignoring Neru's sustained catcalling. "Yes," she barked happily, running out the door humming happily like a housewife. "I'll take care of it right away~"  
"Everybody line up, right now," Mr. Shion ordered them all. One by one the students filed out of the room in alphabetical order. Before Neru joined at the head of the line she muttered into Haku's ear,

"Well, Kaito handles her pretty well..."

Haku's face became the epitome of a cherry as various vulgar images bubbled into her mind.

* * *

"Ah~ Riza-chan, you came!"

"Of course I did. Auntie Teto's off on her honeymoon so she gave me the store for the week," said Riza Sotone as she scaled down from the top of the curtains to greet her friend, Miku Hatsune. "You're here earlier than I was told. I'm not falling behind, am I?"

Miku shook her head. "Actually, I came here to set up the computer for Kaito."

Riza rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Oh~ So you've finally gotten to the point where you can comfortably call him by his first name. That's nice~" Miku flailed her arms energetically. "How long did it take with Len, hmm? Three months after you two officially started dating."

"That's something else!" Miku covered her cheeks with her hands to conceal their redness. "Riza, you're mean! It's been three weeks already, so I think it would make sense!"

"Huu~ Kaito, why don't you give me a try?" Riza clambered up a different ladder and began adjusting the lights. "I'll even call you 'big brother' on the first night."

"W-what's with that?" Miku was tap-tapping away at the keyboard.

"Boys like it when you call them that, y'know? Even if you're not really their little sister."

"Quiet down, there are children present." Kaito Shion entered the gymnasium with Neru Akita behind him. Out of place in the supposedly alphabetical line, Haku Yowane trotted softly at Neru's heels. "Now then, everyone sit down and wait for instructions. You can talk, just keep it quiet." He proceeded up the side-stage ramp to check on Riza's progress, then sidled up to Miku and pretended to be interested in whatever she was doing.

"Those two acting so carefree as though what happens to us doesn't matter..." Neru scoffed and shifted her shoulder so that Haku could make herself more comfortable. Nobody else seemed to pay this behavior any mind. It was already an established routine. "And that jerk still isn't here."

"Ah, you know them by now."

"Yeah, yeah, just the other day I was going to the supermarket and I saw—"

* * *

"Nee... Nii-san, do you think this was a bad spot to hide?" Rin Kagamine rolled her head along the side of the wall of the equipment room and listened to the soft chatter just outside the double doors.

"Maybe." Her boyfriend Len Kagamine wasn't at all interested. He buried his nose past her ear and exhaled, tickling her with his warm breath while sucking hard on her neck.

"Nnn...! You're gonna leave a mark where everyone can see..."

"Let them see, let them see," he chanted, dragging his narrow stubbly chin up along the outside of her throat. "I don't get why you like this..."

"It tickles," Rin giggled.

"It's weird. Whatever..."

"Ah~ Nii-san!"

The doors opened suddenly and Neru stopped, wide-eyed as she set eyes on the couple stowing away before her. As the others outside noted her reaction they all came to look, and the outcome was the same each time.

"Nii-san," Rin kissed Len on the cheek. "You picked this place on purpose, didn't you?"

"Maybe..." Len chuckled.

"Heh heh... I love you, Nii-san."


	40. Bonus II

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Matrimony~_

* * *

"Argh!" An angry Len Kagamine grappled a drooling Kaito Shion away from the table which offered cool ice cream treats. "You moron. We're gonna be late!"

"But~"

"Hey, hey, get your butts moving!" Miku Hatsune hurried in and pushed the two struggling men up the aisle and got them all into position. "God, Kaito, can't you just control yourself for fifteen minutes? And this? In the spring?" She smiled exasperatedly as she straightened out his lapel and scarf. Kaito grinned sheepishly and leaned forward to kiss Miku on the cheek. She slapped him chidingly and grunted under her breath, "Not here, baby! Later, okay?"

"Heh... No need to be so stiff, Miku." Len coughed his throat clear and smoothed out his hair. Miku stuck her tongue out and hurried to her seat in the front row.

The onlookers laughed quietly amongst themselves and chattered about the pleasantness of the atmosphere. The warm breeze was accompanied by a soft and gentle folksy violin melody. Behind them, gray silhouettes danced about a small white-tarped tent. Red and yellow balloons lined the outdoor venue and bobbed to and fro. The officiant, a stern looking man named Hiyama Kiyoteru, stood ever ready at his station to watch over the ceremonies with hawk eyes.

Jogging across great lawn between the white stage and the parking lot, Neru Akita, with her hair wrapped into a pretty little bun. Unlike the other guests in attendance, she defied the standards by hefting an outrageously revealing black and pink chemise, clearly proud of the fact that she stood out. Her partner, Haku Yowane, seemed less eager but was nonetheless captured by Neru's flamboyance, fidgeting in her dark blue slacks and gray vest. They sat in the front row, where Haku was quick to admire Miku's simple yet elegant green sheath.  
"Hey, hey, they're starting," Neru pinched Haku, quick to jealousy.

Everyone turned to see Riza Sotone waving shyly from within the little white tent. When she had gotten their attention, she tediously extricated herself from the open flaps, careful not to open any visual window to the tent's interior, and scurried to her seat one row behind Neru, Haku, and Miku.

"It's a shame that Kasane-san couldn't attend." Miku leaned over to whisper to Riza once she had straightened herself in her seat.

"Yup. You know Auntie."

"Mm, but still, to go this far," Neru chipped in, looking around at all of the props. "She's pretty generous."

"Ahah... She felt pretty bad that she couldn't come." Riza was looking back at the tent she had come from. "Any second now."

* * *

Rin Kagamine fidgeted nervously behind the tarpulin. Why were the violinists taking so long to finish? She was ready to go now, and this suspense was filled with murderous intent. The hushed voices outsite which interspersed the music with soft hissing sounds only increased her anxiety. She was seriously beginning to regret her choices in underwear today.

"Ojou-sama..." the little girl beside her tugged at her dress gently. "You'll do great. You look beautiful, Ojou-sama." Rin smiled exasperatedly. Even though the girl's heart was in a good place, to be comforted by a nine year old was just a little...

"Oh, Yuki-chan," Rin bent over to fix one of Yuki Kaai's hair ties. "There. Now Yuki-chan looks pretty too." They shared a grin.

"Hey, they're going to start now." The hostess, a bartender named Meiko Sakine, entered from the back with a young boy who looked very much like he didn't want to be there. Meiko looked over Rin and sighed. "Hope you're ready, girl."

"As I'll ever be."

The music changed. Meiko reached out to tuck a flower petal in Rin's hair. Yuki parted the curtains and pulled Rin out. Meiko giggled and sent the little boy after them.

"Wow..."

* * *

The cloudless sky brought forth a weak gust which filled the air with countless little white spores, dandelion seeds which had been torn loose, little wishes flying up into heaven. Here on an ordinary spring day, with the wild flowers blooming and the birds aflutter across the continent, tucked in the hilly countryside just out of Nara was a quaint little wedding entertaining no more than two dozen spectators. A dazzling blaze of fifty and five firey orange flower petals danced down the aisle, bringing with them in their wild flurry the powerfully intoxicating scent of flowers and citrus. The flower bobs and weaves gracefully among the craning necks of amazed onlookers, captivating with her swaying, spiraling movements. As if sensing the beauteous glory which had entered into the presence of the world, nature stilled, the still lingering fragrance of orange skins and exotic flowers pervading every nostril.

The groom, a bright yellow sunshine beaming down on this exquisite specimen of an exotic creature out of place among the cool green grass of the Nara countryside, beckoned to her to bask underneath the hot loving rays of his forever unconditional adoration. The floor paused, as though oblivious to her own stunning splendor, to gape at this dazzling golden phenomenon, before proceeding into his tender encompassing light.  
Meaningless things were said. The language was incomprehensible and otherwise irrelevant. What was important was the love and joy that these two distinct entities shared, the communion of which they expressed resplendently in their adoring gazes. Thus came a sprite bearing a symbol, a sign which could act as the catalyst for a binding mutual contract of infinity, offering it to the sun. To the flower came a fairy with a child, a reminder of all of the memories which gave a definition to this union.

And with a smile, the flower took its memories and shared it with the sun. The sun, rejoicing, set low to the horizon to cast onto Clementine a crimson shade of twilight, drawing the flower close. There were shouts. There were cheers. They drowned out the subtle fanfare and tore a seam into reality.

A smile had permanently affixed itself to Len's handsomely boyish face. Rin exhaled dramatically, influenced by his exuding happiness. "If you make a face like that I'm going to faint..."

"I love you, Rin." It was all he could think to say. He wanted to say it again, over and over without end. Words could not express, nor could eyes. But they could feel it between themselves. Kaito scratched his nose and chuckled.

"Hey, the flower," He reminded Rin, looking at the standing ovation in front of the stage. Into the air sailed Epiphyllum Clementine, a representation of all of the feelings and memories which had accumulated over seven long years. People were screaming.

"Oi! Haku, what the hell?" Neru's wide eyes reflected Haku desperately launching herself from the chair. Haku looked behind at her, laughing happily.

"It's mine!" A voice trilled. Miku hopped up and down, squealing madly. More clapping. Miku pushed her way through the crowd and caught Kaito, sneaking around to a serving table, and held the flower in his face. "Lookit! Lookit!" she squeaked, eyes sparkling. It took Kaito a moment, but he was happy as well.

"Maybe it _is _about time," he admitted. Miku wrapped her arms around him in a chaste embrace, then left him to return to Haku who was looking on a little sadly.

"Here," she extended the flower to Haku, tittering. "Consider this an invitation to _our_ wedding."

"Miku..." Haku took it hesitantly, glancing askance at a red-faced Neru. "Akita-sama..."

"Tch!" They came together amidst teasing jeers and Neru pinched Haku's chin. "Make sure you catch it next time!"

"Oi! Oi! Who's wedding is this, anyway?" Len and Rin couldn't stop themselves from laughing.

Riza guffawed. "Is that any way for the groom to be speaking, now?" She possessed in both hands glasses of sparkling rye wine, offering it to them. "Well? Appropriate, isn't it?"

Bewildered, Rin looked up to her new husband. He blushed and whispered, "I'll tell you later. Anyway..." He stepped up to the podium, which Hiyama respectfully relinquished. Looking out at all those who had come here, the little family he held in his heart, Len's chest puffed out proudly. "If it's acceptable, I hope to have a few words with everyone present.

"My name is Hidari Sorane. Most of you know me as Len Kagamine. For Rin and I, this is a new beginning, just one of many new beginnings which I hope to share with Rin and, perhaps, with all of you. Well, maybe not ALL of them..." The audience chuckled. He glanced at Rin, who blushed furiously. Len had much to say, and most of it was gratuitous to everyone who had supported them. But his most words were for last. "...these last seven years have been nothing short of incredible. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see everyone here, approving us. It wasn't easy getting approved, and when I see how you have all been with us at most every step of the way, the word 'family' comes to mind. Yes: You are all my precious family, and I love you and thank you for it."

Nobody clapped. They were all silently touched. Rin decided she had something to add. "There are many different ways that love expresses itself. I only hope that my husband won't spend more time with you and less with me." She reveled in that little shot of humorous revenge. "When childhood friends get married, it's beautiful. Sadly, that beauty isn't witnessed often enough. But when it happens, when those friends become husband and wife, they don't stop being friends. I don't know Hidari Sorane. I know Len Kagamine. And for a little more than twenty years, Len has been my brother. I have always loved Len, as I have always loved my brother. Forever is a hard word to grasp. But Len will always be my brother, and he will always be my friend, and he will always be my lover. And now, Len Kagamine will forever be my husband. So—uah?" Len swept Rin into his arms and carried her off the stage.

The crowd clapped and roared. "Cheesy!" Neru declared. Everyone went to grab a refreshment. Kaito, Miku, Riza, Neru, Haku, and Meiko all gathered at the top of the hill, watching Len and Rin walk off into the distance by themselves. The wind picked up again, a gentle spring breeze pulling towards them the scent of flowers and citrus...


	41. Bonus III

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Honeymoon~_

* * *

The walk to the cottage was long and uneventful. Never-ending seas of grass and smooth, long fields of vegetation crept by in the distance. In the beginning, the sun was high overhead and it was warm. As the day drew on, however, and the shouts of the excited party-goers they had left behind died down, the beautiful clementine twilight foreshadowed a cold night in the woody parts of the Nara countryside.

But just the same it was a meaningful journey, and as the solitude gradually enveloped them in the darkening sky they arrived at last at a western style cottage nestled amongst the great and varied trees. It was small, perhaps only seven feet by nine feet, but there were two floors.

The walls were primarily unpainted, though there was evidence to suggest that it once had been. And decoratively so, for there existed patches of paint chips in hard to reach areas, as though perhaps the paint had been stripped for some reason or other. But the wood was finished over quite nicely, and even glowed slightly in the rising moonlight.

The structure itself looked to be in good condition: The windows were cleaned and polished and there was only light debris strewn about the campus. Inside, a light was already on, though the house would be empty for the next few minutes until the approaching pair would enter as its new occupants for a time. And in any event the state of the exterior was of little concern, for the purpose of this stay was less aesthetic than practical, despite its celebratory nature. Despite that, Len Kagamine made a show of spinning his wife through the door.

"Oh, it's warm!" Rin Kagamine was pleasantly surprised as she took her first steps across the small room, which consisted only of a small couch just barely large enough to fit two and a makeshift kitchen which was crammed haphazardly into the the east wall, opposite the would-be welcoming room. Len looked up at the digital clock hung on the wall.

"It's still a little early, Rin. Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Yes! I'd love to!" Her voice echoed down from the ladder stairs in the corner. "Just give me a moment, nii-san, I'm changing."

"Okay." Len settled into the couch, wondering whether the others were still partying. It was unlikely. "Hmm..." He shook his head, clearing his mind of all thoughts on the outside. Although he hadn't felt so earlier, being here was rendering upon him an unfamiliar self-conscious awareness. He considered whether or not Rin might be feeling similarly.

"Len? Can you come up here?" Rin beckoned.

Brow raised, Len approached the foot of the ladder and peered up but could not see Rin from his position. "What's wrong?" He suspected that she might be luring him to bed, which he wasn't disagreeable to, but honestly wished for that romantic opportunity to walk around which had so recently presented itself. When she insisted that she needed help unknotting her dress, his suspicions were heightened.

"Right here..." Rin rolled her chin over her shoulder, reaching awkwardly with her hands while shaking her hips in an attempt to jostle a string close enough for her to reach. "I don't want to dirty the dress."

He acquiesced silently, kissing the bare of her shoulder and tickling her skin with his chin. She giggled and slid off the dress, exposing a pretty pink striped camisole and a pair of sporty spandex shorts. "But what are you going to wear? You're not going out in those shorts, are you?"

Rin curled her lip and smirked. "Hmm? Nii-san, you just wanna get to the fun part, don't you?"

"Well... maybe," Len caught her as she toed up to tease him back. He slipped off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. "Here, this will work, right?" Rin nodded and clambered down the ladder first, and when Len came down she was already waiting at the door, her soft eyes set on him. His heart started pounding, and he couldn't help but smile.

"What?" She blushed, aware that he was thinking about something complicated. "You thought I was the one who couldn't wait? Well, I can't, but I love you and I want to spend time with you too. Now, come here!"

Rin came up to Len and pulled him by the wrists to the entrance. Still, they ended up kissing in the doorway for quite some time. Len could never get over the feeling of it. She still had a little makeup on, and he could taste it, but that was fine. It was an erotic kind of stimulation from something so chaste, but that was just as fine. Because they were here to enjoy themselves. They were married now. Thinking about that made him laugh. "Jerk," she panted hotly, pulling her hair behind her ears. Len shut the door behind them and they ventured out into the cool night.

"I feel so much better now," Rin groaned, massaging her shoulders and chest where the dress had been tightest. She still had her gloves on to keep warm, but now took them off and tucked them into Len's pocket. "I could never stand weddings."

"Haha... Any other man would cry to hear you say that."

"But it's true." She stabbed him with her pinky. "And you know that so it's fine." And it was true. Rinhad never been able to sit still for a formal occasion, and when she did so it was perhaps at great expense to her personal sanity. But she had endured it, and though she wasn't gloating, she wanted to express to Len. It was the only way she could think of. "If we ever celebrate our anniversary I'm not dressing up like that again."

"Oh." Len feigned disinterest. It worked. Rin pinched his ear and ran up ahead. There was a little collection of rocks in a circle which were shaped just right to take a seat.

"Fine, but only when we're alone," she said once Len had caught up to her and sat down so she could rest in his lap. "Hey, you were supposed to explain that wine thing. You could have done it on the way here."

"Haha, okay. But then there wouldn't be as much to talk about."

"I don't care. Tell me." She stuck her tongue out.

"Well," Len looked up at the moon, in thought. "They say that Clementine took care of ducks, but the truth is that she was really just a meddlesome girl."

"Huh...?"

"'Clementine' is credited to have been written by Percy Montrose," he explained. "Even so, the song's composition was based on an even earlier song which was published around 1863, over twenty years earlier. That song, which was written by Henry S. Thompson, tells a different story."

"Oh yeah...?" Rin was well nestled in Len's arms, grinning happily.

"In that story, Clementine lived not with her miner father, but with her lover. On a romantic night, her lover gave Clementine some rye wine. After that, they went for a walk, when they found some ducks going into the river. Clementine, who was intoxicated, tried to drive them back to land, but fell into the river and drowned."

Rin was quietly nipping her husband's neck, still paying attention but growing restless. "Wow... that's pretty sad."

He reciprocated absentmindedly, going on with his story. "The moral, which was part of the song, was that you shouldn't give your lady too much to drink." They started the return journey home.

Clouds had obscured the moon by now, so the trip was slightly more treacherous than it had been. But they made it back to the cottage without incident, and once inside fell together to the couch. "What, here?" Rin murmured seductively while straddling him. "Silly darling... You just can't wait, can you?"

"Heh... You can say that, even though you're on top?" The jacket came off, and then her camisole, both of which fell to the floor. In response she simply opened his zipper and wrapped her fingers around his hard, pulsating shaft.

"But look at you," she replied, chuckling. "Your honesty is almost shameless."

With his toes hooked around her shorts he exposed her lower half. "You were wearing this at the wedding?" he exclaimed, incredulous. She grunted affirmatively, working open his buttons one by one with her teeth. Len marvelled hungrily. "And to think you're already like this."

"Mmm... it was really uncomfortable. Make it better, darling. Unh...!"

"Hey, finish the job."

His trousers had not even been loosened, yet she had mounted him boldly and left his shirt half unbuttoned. Pulling at her butt for leverage, Len sat upright and undid his tie. "Honestly, Rin, you're just too sexy. I can't say no."

"Ah! That's unfair! You know me already!"

"Huhu... then do it here."

"Uhu~ Ohhh~ Len~ I don't like this position~"

"But you're so tight! You can't hide it from me!"

Len pushed her over and spread her legs over his shoulders. Ecstasy overtook her as his fingers found her clitoris. Her eyes gyrated wildly and she let out a muffled squeak, crying out his name. Encouraged by her reaction, he stood up on the couch and suspended her by the ankles, sliding their bodies along with pumping arms which dripped with accumulating sweat.

"N-no~! T-This is embarrassing! Hahi! Uaah~! Uuhungh! Ufah!"

"I... love... you... Rin..." Len panted furiously. Electricity was building at the apex. Rin was so mesmerized that she could only howl primitively. Closer. More! Just a little more!

"HAHH! UHNN! NNHAAAH! NII-SAN!" Shockwaves surged forth and buffeted their bodies, battering their minds with pleasure. Len's knees buckled, and it took great effort to gently unbend Rin'sknees and fall softly atop her. Their short, heavy breaths filled the ensuing silence.

"Rin?" Len called after several minutes had elapsed. "Did you fall asleep?" Indeed she had. "Unbelievable," he laughed, slapping his forehead.

"Guess I overdid it..." It was just a little disappointing, but having the idea in his head that it was his performance which had drained her of energy, her felt a little better about it. Besides, there would be plenty of time for that later. Rin had a monster sex drive.

He yawned, feeling a little drowsy with inactivity, and got up to clean so that he could stay awake. Fully drawing off his shirt, he folded it and Rin's camisole and shorts, but could not find the tie. These were placed neatly on the table. Next he put out the lights and plugged in a small night lamp sitting on the table. With the aid of its dim glow, he heaved the beautiful nude girl over his back and clambered cautiously up the ladder to the second floor.

Well, it was okay, even like this, he though, laying her out on the bed. He couldn't help noticing her body as he covered it, and had with himself a sort of tension play in which he tried to memorize every line of her under-developed features: her small stubby feet, the long thin legs, the widening thighs, those curving hips and navel, decked with poignantly perky breasts which had grown just a little over the years through Rin's best efforts at encouraging their increase. And she was always quite proud of the results whenever he would lay his head there over her heart to listen to its beating.

"What are you doing?" she would ask him.

And he would always say, "Checking your pulse."

"You really like playing Doctor, don't you?"

And he always had some witty retort which successfully aggravated her, as it was intended to. Then, as always, they followed through with sex.

Always there was that. In between everything there was sex, but it made Len happy that there was an in between. For Rin had a way of making things work out. They now both had jobs as journalists, and though sometimes their work took them to far places, they had promised one another they would never be apart for work related reasons. Len trusted himself to carry out that promise himself, and as he would discover in the future, he would never have to worry about Rin forgetting the promise either.

But for right here and now it was fun to think about the future, good and bad possibilities encompassed: Because what mattered was that he and his wife would never stop loving one another. Ever. Although... the idea of troubled waters did frighten him just a little. He sighed, feeling himself a pervert for caressing Rin's slumbering form, and opened the an upstairs window enough to lean out his head and took out a cigarette and lighter.

Even as Len was lighting it, he heard the sounds of sheets rustling and turned around. Rin was watching him, a little upset.

"Who said I was asleep? We're not done yet." She saw Len's eyes light up and leered. "Oh, just like that you're good to go. Come here..."

"Don't pass out this time."

"Quit smoking. You lied about that." She pulled the covers over and assumed the dominant position again. "Earlier you were disappointed, huh? Sorry. I'll make it up to you..."

"Looking forward to it..."

"Heh heh..."

* * *

"...hey, Len?"

"Yeah?"

"Which do you like to be called better?" Rin leaned up on her shoulder and looked at Len. "When I call you 'nii-san' or 'darling'?"

"Hmm..." Len took the stick of Caster Original he'd attempted to light earlier and placed it between his lips, not lighting it. Just the same Rin took it and tossed it aside. He laughed and frizzed her hair. "Anything is fine, Rin."

"Hmm, or 'baby.' There's a lot of things I can call you. I always call you 'nii-san' but I shouldn't, huh?"

"Well, what's wrong with it?"

"Because we're not really related. Besides, we're married now, so people will start getting the wrong idea."

"ERU OH ERU... You're the one who calls me that anyway." Rin shoved him softly, clicking her tongue.

"I can't help it. Anyway, you like it right? You're still like this, after all." She stroked his organ maliciously, giggling.

"Maybe. Should I call you 'imouto-chan' then?"

"Hmm... 'honey'? I call you 'darling' sometimes but that feels awkward." Rin wasn't listening. She listed every possible name she could think of: Dear, Love, Lovely, Sweetie, the list went on. "Or maybe it should be something personal? But I don't really know anything like that. Hey, did you have any odd petnames?" She tugged Len's arm.

"You're gonna get mad at me, aren't you?"

"It depends on the kind of names."

"Well, there weren't any."

"That's a lie. That hostess, Sakine-san, she calls you 'Lenny-kun.'"

"Just her. It's not like there are others."

"Eh... I'm not going to call you that anyway. It's boring."

"I thought so." He pulled her back into his arms and planted kisses across her shoulder. "Really, Rin, just my name is fine."

"Aww~ But that's boring too." The wife drew her husband's hand hands to her breasts for a massage. "Maybe I'll call you 'master.'"

"..."

"Ah, you got harder again. That's good, heh..." They shifted around quietly. Shortly, Rin's breath became heavier. "Well, whatever... I'll figure something out soon,_ master_..."

"Pervert..."

"That's master's fault..."

"Rin?" Len paused to wipe away the glistening sweat from her knit forehead.

"Hmm?"

"If we have kids, what would you name them?"

"Mmm... I want a boy. He'll be Ren. Boring, right?" But she was still grinning."

"Then, if we have a girl her name will be Lin, okay?"

She became embarrassed then. "Shut up and fuck me, master."

On the roof, tail swishing idly, a white cat with yellow eyes lay curled up in a bed of dry leaves, purring softly.


	42. Author's Commentary

**Author's Commentary**

* * *

Thank you so much for sticking with me until the end! It's really been a pleasure writing this fanfic! For those of you who didn't already know, I started writing this a little over a year ago, and I would update it almost once a day.

Back then I feel the quality is much higher than what it became a little after chapter 16, which was where I stopped because I'd lost interest and inspiration. That was a year ago, and all of a sudden I felt spurred on to finish it, so I did. And here you have it. After chapter 16 I feel like the writing quality degraded a bit, and also the story has changed around too, while I did leave some unfinished details and probably didn't insert enough. I don't really feel like editing the story (even though I really want to) because that would change some details and the story would be different and I want to give an overall consistent impression, including everyone who read it before.

Anyway, now I'm going to talk about some of the details of this fiction. As you can see, the song "Clementine" was a very prominent piece here. It doesn't really have any important meaning to the story, but I felt really touched by this song at the time I was writing it (I was watching Spring Waltz around the time I had the idea for this, if any of you know what I'm talking about). Anyway the story needed a theme to go by, and Clementine fit nicely.

"Clementine" was written, as I explained in the 3rd bonus, by a Percy Montrose. However, it was based on another song called "Down by the River Liv'd a Maiden" which was written about two decades earlier. In that version, there's no miner. I have no idea why they came up with that in "Clementine." It was just a guy singing about his ex-lover, who died after having a bit too much to drink. They lived in a small cottage which was seven by nine feet in coverage. I don't know that it was two-story or not. There's also the rye wine and the ducks. In "Clementine", it sounds as though leading the ducks to the water was a routine for Clementine, while in the original she was drunk and must have thought the ducks would drown, and ended up drowning herself in her intoxicated efforts to "save" them. And since the guy was apparently useless, he couldn't save her, so he shacked up with her sister instead. Pretty screwed up, if you ask me. By the way, I don't know what the original song sounds like. I can't find notes for it anyway, but I'm very interested, so if you happen to know the melody for "Down by the River..." then please let me know.

I know, it's not very clear, but Len isn't actually Rin's brother in this story. Originally I was going to have a lot of scenes involving Len and their parents, in which they discuss financial matters, and it was going to be very deep and complicated. It still is a little deep the way it is now, but not nearly as complicated. I tried to bring that back in the bank chapter, but I still feel I fell short of my own expectations. However, the implications that Len grew up on the street are the same as what I had before.

Len originally grew up in Okinawa. There was supposed to be a part of the story detailing how he had a childhood friend who looked just like Luka, but they ended up separated for various unexplained reasons and afterwards because those memories were from a very early age, Len would mistake Luka for being his childhood friend. Yes, Luka was supposed to be crazy, and I'm afraid I sort of botched the climax, but if you're satisfied then I guess it worked out well enough. I'm no good at those sort of scenes.

Meiko was also supposed to be more involved in this story too, but she ended up becoming a side-character. I felt bad for her, so I gave her her very own scene. The inspiration for her epilogue came from a manga known as "Bartender." It's not really good about its alcohol consumption related accuracy, but I liked the mood of it so I borrowed from that and used my own cocktail knowledge to get around. SP Highball stands for "Salt and Pepper Highball." I don't know if people actually call it SP, but that's what my friends call it, so the name sort of stuck. The bitters (angostura and campari) are lacking but I was never able to get my hands on everything else to make it. Besides, I like my highballs that way, haha.

If you're wondering why I made the chapters so small, it's because my writing style is very fragmented. I have a very good vocabulary, but at any one time I tend to overuse the same word throughout a large chunk of text. The splitting is there to cushion this fault I have. For the most part I ignore ffnet's chapter system, and to me they are more like pages rather than chapters.

Anyway, that's all I've got. If you have any other questions which you would like to be answered, **please message me and I will answer them on this chapter, so check back frequently if you've had a question you've been dying to ask me.**

* * *

I'm also looking for someone who is interested in writing a prequel to this fiction. In other words, I want to read the SPICE! music video as a fanfiction, except that I want to read it with the details in my story tying into a background. If you're interested, please message me.

I'm not planning on writing this myself. I have too many other ideas and quite honestly I'm not interested enough to write it myself. I'll just burn out after 2 updates and then it'll die.

* * *

As a last note, I wanted to alert everyone to the neat view modifiers which are located at the top right corner. My fictions are best read when you set the page margins to "1/2" with the "Dark" setting enabled. If you need to increase your font size for better reading, then just...

...y'know what? Just do whatever you want, haha. You can enjoy this story however, but that's my suggestion.

Everyone who's been **enjoying** this story but **has not** been leaving encouraging reviews can all die in hell. Do you have any idea how discouraging it is to see so many hits and yet being forced to think that it's not satisfying enough for you to leave a review? Even if it's bad criticism, I want it. You're all assholes who are about as bad as leeches who read manga online and don't even buy a single translated publication even if they're available in your area. Shame on you.

A small few of you have also been complaining to me about deleting anonymous reviews which you have been leaving. I'm a sensitive, guy, so when I see that someone anonymous has been leaving a review to every single freaking chapter and they're all horribly spelled and don't offer anything constructive, it makes me feel paranoid and I think you're mocking me. You think I'm pathetic? Well, you're reading my fanfiction so DEAL WITH IT...

Examples include: "OMG THIS IS GREAT GIVE ME MOAR" or "AWESOME CANT WAIT FOR THE NEXT UPDATE". Seriously, that stuff pisses me off, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Anonymous reviews are welcome, but please don't leave a review if you can't even offer me anything helpful. This is not facebook or myspace, this is fucking fanfiction. If you're going to do that, send it to me as a message. And if you're still going to do it, learn to spell. All caps is considered rude and is the mark of a troller. I should know.

The rest of you are all fine. Since I won't know who's been reading my stories, it's not like I can direct my hate at any of you in particular. If this intimidates/pursuades/makes you pity me into leaving a review, do keep in mind that it's best to not apologize, or I will know you were one of them. And if you were thinking of reading this to the end without leaving a review (in other words, NOT thinking of leaving a review for a story you actually enjoy reading) then you're a horrible person.

Once again, I still thank any and all of you if you have read this series in its entirety, including the bonus chapters and this commentary page.

Please message me with any ideas, questions, comments, or whatever you would like. I'm not unfamiliar with being flamed, so have yourself a ball!


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